Arendelle Sisters
by Admiral
Summary: Elsa and Anna return to the Land Without Magic to join a surprising ally in facing an even more surprising danger.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** In the interest of full disclosure, I have a confession to make: I don't actually like _Once Upon A Time_. I think it's a stupid show, and there are maybe one or two characters that I actually find likeable. That said, I did watch the first half of season four for the Frozen storyline because I love the movie and I love the characters. So, this story has a narrow focus. Just like the title says, it's about Arendelle sisters, the ones borrowed from the movie and the ones made up for the show. Maybe a main character will have a cameo here and there, but if you clicked on this thinking you're going to see the whole Storybrooke gang you're gong to be horribly disappointed. Just so you know...

Also, while I had the idea for this story for a while I didn't start setting it down until I found another story on this site that brought Elsa and Anna back to our world. It's called "Once Upon a Time: Modern Vacation" and it's on my Favorites page. I tell you this because if you really do want to read a story with Elsa and Anna and all the Storybrooke gang this one's got it, and all you have to do is go to my favorites to find it. (Although the author's doing a live rewrite so be careful how you read it.)

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

Anna, Princess of Arendelle, said heartfelt goodbyes to each and every soldier in the squad just inside the gates of the palace as servants hefted her pack and bedroll to her room. Once she was done, Anna raced throught the halls of the palace and up to Elsa's chambers. Standing in front of Elsa's door, she raised her knuckles up to deliver her signature knock. _Knock!-KnockKnockKnock!- **KNOCK!**_

"Come in, Anna!" Elsa called out.

Anna grinned and threw the door open and rushed inside. She found Elsa laying in bed dressed in a nightgown (not a surprise, since it was late in the evening) and reading a thick book. "So how was your camping trip?" The Queen asked her sister.

Anna rolled her eyes. "El-sa! It wasn't just a camping trip! I went on a real _bivouac_!" Right now she was dressed in a rough hiking outfit colored in earth-tones and accented with what Elsa thought were ridiculously mannish boots.

"Fine," Elsa said, "how was your bivouac? I take it you just got back?"

"Yes! I just had to tell you about it right away!"

"And it was really so important that you came to visit me without taking a bath?"

"What?" Anna said, just before she sniffed one of her pits. "I don't smell that bad, do I?"

"Anna, you just spent the weekend in the woods with an army platoon. Right now you smell only slightly better than Kristoff usually does."

Anna huffed. "Okay, so I'm stinky! Can you just tolerate me long enough for me to tell you what happened?"

"I already know what happened. You joined one of our army units on an extended patrol just to see what it was like, and since we're not actually at war with anyone right now, you did what every soldier does out in the field in peace time. You cooked over campfires and slept on bedrolls in tents and complained about being in the army."

Anna thought about it. "Yeah, there was a lot of complaining. I don't know why, though. I thought the bivouac was wonderful!"

"Of course you did. You got to come back here and your unit has to go back to barracks. Perspective, little sister…"

Anna shook her head. "Look...never mind that! That's not what I came here to tell you about! I wanted to tell you about what happened night before last!"

"Okay...what happened night before last?"

"We told ghost stories around the fire!"

Elsa just stared at Anna for a moment, then went back to her book. "Go bathe," she commanded Anna.

Anna huffed again and plopped down on the side of the bed. "Elsa, listen to me!" She said, her face close to Elsa's ear. "Everybody told really scary stories, but the one told by Corporal Gruendorf was super-interesting!"

Elsa sighed as she put her book down and turned to face Anna. "And what, praytell, made Corporal Gruendorf's tale so interesting?"

"It's who the ghost was...Queen Gerda."

A strange look came across Elsa's face. "What!?"

"Corporal Gruendorf said he was on another patrol about a month ago in the Western Plateau and he and one other troop were sent to scout ahead. They had only gotten a short way away from the rest of the platoon when they heard someone singing. They followed the sound to a side clearing and saw a shimmering figure through the trees. When they looked more closely they saw it was…"

"...our _mother!"_ Elsa said.

"Yes! She was gesturing to them, and trying to tell them something with sign language, and...Elsa, you look upset."

"Of course I'm upset! That...soldier used our mother's memory for a night's cheap entertainment! That's...it's...well if it's not illegal it's certainly in poor taste! I should give that man a piece of my mind."

"Wait...you don't think it could be real?"

"Oh, Anna, of course it's not real. There's no such thing as ghosts. It's all just creaking floors and squeaky hinges and wind blowing through trees. It's all just to scare impressionable people like you."

Anna frowned at that and crossed her arms. "Right. Ghosts aren't real! And there's no such things as other realms with no magic! And no such things as sorcerors with magic hats! And no such things as enchanted forests! And no such things as nordic queens with the power to create snow with gestures...even though I'm related to _two_ of them!"

Elsa raised a hand to stop Anna, waited a beat, then said, "Fine. Let's say for the sake of argument that ghosts are also real. Even if our mother is one herself, why in the world would she be haunting some back woods area like the Western Plateau when she could be roaming around the nice big comfortable palace she used to live in?

"I don't know, Elsa, so why don't we go up there and ask her?"

"Absolutely not."

"Oh come on, Elsa…!"

"You are not going to talk me into hiking into the mountains again on some wild phantom chase. If you really want to go, you're welcome to do so. Let me know what you find when you get back."

"Elsa, you have to come with me…!"

"No, I don't. Since my Coronation there is a long list of things I have to do, but chasing ghosts with you is most assuredly not one of them."

Elsa went back to her book and the sisters lay in the bed pointedly not looking at each other or talking to each other for a few minutes, then, without looking at Elsa, Anna said, "Is there anything you wish you could have said to mother before she died?"

Elsa, exasperated, said, "Well, of course. There are always regrets…"

"Well, maybe she has them, too. Maybe, if she is a ghost, she's come back because she wanted to tell us something she never had a chance to tell us."

"I thought she took care of that with the note in the bottle…"

Anna shrugged. "Maybe she doesn't know if we got it. It's not as if she can easily check on the delivery."

More silence, this time with the girls looking each other in the eye, Anna's pleading, Elsa's unsure. Finally Elsa closed her eyes, turned away and moaned, "Oh, I can't believe I'm going to do this…"

"Yay!" Anna cheered as she jumped out of bed. She was grinning and started to bounce up and down with joy. "I knew you'd come!"

Elsa raised a finger toward Anna to make her stop jumping. When she was still, Elsa said, "We'll ride up this weekend and spend a day - one day - looking for signs of any ghostly activity, and if we find nothing before late evening we'll ride back and I don't want to hear any more about it. Understood?"

Anna nodded. "Yep! Absolutely understood!"

"We're also going to take Corporal Gruendorf and whoever he was with to the plateau with us so they can lead us to exactly where they supposedly saw mother."

"Sure! Of course!"

"So, now that that's settled, will you please go take a bath?"

"Oui, oui, mon capitaine!" Anna said with a very enthusiastic and sloppy salute. Then she giggled and stormed out of the chambers the way she stormed in.

Elsa just sighed at the sight. "That girl's going to give us both heart attacks…" she muttered.

* * *

Come the weekend, Elsa and Anna had an early breakfast and prepared for their day trip in different ways. Elsa prepared a picnic lunch and snacks for when cravings hit over the course of the day. Anna packed incense, supposedly magical totems, and a guaranteed ghost trap provided by Wandering Oaken's trading post. As they prepared, Elsa sent word for Corporal Gruendorf and Private Bierstein - the other eyewitness - to meet them at the royal stables with packs for a day's patrol. Hearing that, Anna wanted to get back into her bivouac outfit, but Elsa forbade it. The queen and princess would be dressed in appropriate summer attire and nothing else. Anna pouted at the unfairness of it.

After a brief conversation between Elsa and the Corporal about the impropriety of telling ghost stories about other peoples' parents, the quartet set out on horseback toward the Western Plateau. It was late in the summer morning, bright but not humid, and despite the ultimate goal of the expedition Elsa was enjoying the ride, and thus proceeded at a leisurely pace. Anna, frustrated at Elsa's "old lady" pace, kept threatening to ride ahead and leave her in the dust. Gruendorf and Bierstein kept an orderly pace with Elsa's horse on its flanks.

They'd been on the plateau for about twenty minutes when Gruendorf pointed to a stand of trees. "There, ma'am," he said to Elsa. "That's where we saw her."

"And where we first heard her singing," Bierstein added.

Elsa squinted to get a good look and nudged her horse in the direction of the treeline. "Then what happened?" She asked.

"Well, of course we were on foot at the time, your majesty," Gruendorf said, "but first we were approaching the trees and heard the singing…"

"What was she singing?" Anna asked.

Bierstein thought about it. "Actually, miss, it sounded like a lullaby. Isn't that right, Corporal?"

Gruendorf nodded somberly and said, "Yes, yes...it sounded very much like a lullaby."

Anna gasped. "Maybe it was the song about the little girl and the windmill, Elsa, like she used to sing when we were real young!"

Elsa calmed Anna with a raised finger and turned back to Gruendorf. "Finish your story."

"Well, we heard the singing and when we turned to see where it was coming from we saw sort of a glow in those trees…"

"A soft white glow…" Bierstein interjected.

"Yes, yes...a soft white glow. Well, we approached the treeline and tried to make out where the glow was coming from, but it started to evade us, so we chased it further into the trees."

"It led us around on a merry chase, ma'am," Bierstein said, "but we finally caught up and could get a good look, and in the center of the glow…"

"We saw Her Majesty Queen Gerda," Gruendorf said, "God Rest Her Soul." He thumped his chest with his fist and gave a reverent nod.

Elsa fought the urge to roll her eyes as she said, "And did she do anything or say anything, or did she just glow?"

"Actually, ma'am, she did sort of gesture at us," Bierstein said.

"Yes, yes…" Gruendorf said, "quite so. A beckoning gesture I would say."

"See, Elsa?" Anna said. "A beckoning gesture!"

Elsa turned to her. "And what does a beckoning gesture mean, exactly?"

"Well...I...don't know, but it happened!"

Elsa just shook her head and climbed down off her horse. The others followed suit as she said. "Very well...we'll set up our picnic here and wait until evening…"

"We can't just wait!" Anna said, exasperated. "There's a ghost out there! We have to hunt it down!"

"There you go with that 'have to' again. Weren't you listening? If the Corporal's story is true and it's meant to happen again, then all we have to do is wait here for those trees to start glowing."

"But, it's our mother! And I have a ghost trap!"

"Anna, I am not going to go dragging my skirts around the woods looking for a ghost that may or may not show itself without any effort on my part."

"Oh, you can be so impossible sometimes! I-"

Elsa held up another quieting finger. "But I will not stop you from doing it. Corporal, you will stay and help me set up our picnic. Private, you will accompany my sister on her wild ghost chase."

"Fine!" Anna said. She turned to march off with Bierstein falling in step behind her. "I'll show you what's a wild ghost chase. I bet I'll find her before you do!"

"You shouldn't gamble!" Elsa called back. "It's unladylike!"

 _"I'm not listening!"_ Anna sang out.

Elsa giggled as she watched Anna and Bierstein walk into the trees, then turned to unpack her things.

* * *

An hour later, she was sitting on a large blanket eating an apple and reading the book Anna interrupted a week ago when the princess and the private returned, Anna with a dejected look on her face. Anna plopped down next to Elsa with a huff, while Bierstein sat next to Gruendorf at the blanket's edge.

"Help yourself to something, private," Elsa said as she reached into her picnic basket for peach.

Bierstein noticed Gruendorf munching on some cheese and smiled. "Thank you, ma'am."

As Bierstein dug into the basket Elsa handed the peach to Anna, who reached for it absently while her brow remained furrowed. She took a large bite and chewed remotely, her attention completely on some strange problem.

Elsa smiled as she said softly, "I take it the ghost hunt didn't go well?"

Anna finished her bite and swallowed before she said, "I admit, there was not as much progress made as I expected…"

"Ah," Elsa said. She took another bite of apple and returned to her book.

"I'm just taking a break," Anna said.

"Mm-hmm," Elsa said.

"The truth is out there," Anna said. "It's just a matter of finding it."

"Oh, of course…" Elsa said.

"Oh...hush…" She took another bite of the peach and sat working out the problem in her head.

Everyone sat and ate silently for a few more minutes before Bierstein started choking on the sweet roll he was eating. His eyes were wide as he coughed and gagged and Gruendorf pounded on his back to help him recover. When he was out of danger he raised his hand and pointed toward the trees, drawing the others' gaze.

Something behind one of the trees was glowing.

Anna was on her feet in a snap. "That's it! The ghost!" She turned to Elsa. "You were right! All we had to do was wait!"

Elsa stood, forcing the men to stand as well. "I don't believe it!"

"But that is what we saw, your majesty!" Bierstein said, finding his voice at last.

"Yes, yes...quite!" Gruendorf confirmed.

"But it _can't_ be a ghost!" Elsa said. "It's a trick of the sun, or…"

"Let's just go look at it and find out!" Anna said. "It's right there!"

"All right, Anna! All right...let's go. Gentlemen, stay close."

Anna led the way at a brisk walk as the group advanced on the glow behind the tree. It disappeared just as Anna reached it, then reappeared behind another tree a few yards away. The chase was on! Anna jogged over to that tree with Elsa and the soldiers a step behind. It faded again as they got close, then reappeared further away.

This pattern of appear-chase-disappear kept repeating until the group found themselves in a wide circular clearing. The glow was floating in the center, a pillar of soft light that was beautiful to look at.

That's when they heard it. "It's the singing, ma'am!" Bierstein called out. "The singing!"

Anna listened and gasped, "Elsa! It is! It's mother's lullaby!"

As they watched and listened, the pillar of light settled to the ground and resolved into a human form. It was still luminous and willowy, but now the person's features could be made out clearly. It was, indeed, Gerda, former Queen of Arendelle.

Elsa and Anna were transfixed as their mother smiled at them and sang their lullaby, going through the whole song. Beside them, Gruendorf and Bierstein had gone down on one knee and lowered their heads in reverence. There was no other movement in the clearing, no other sound until Gerda finished her performance. Once done, she continued smiling as she held out her hands to Elsa and Anna.

"She's beckoning," Anna said.

"She certainly is," Elsa said. "Go to her."

"Me? Why do I have to go to her?"

"You're the one with the ghost trap!"

"Well, you were the one that wanted to know why she was haunting the woods!"

"But I would have been perfectly happy to remain ignorant on the question, but no, you had to drag us out here!"

They turned their attention back to Gerda. She was still smiling, still holding out her hands, still patient.

Finally Elsa sighed and held out a hand. "Together, then?"

Anna sighed and took Elsa's hand in hers. "Together."

Elsa started to step forward, but paused. "Of course, given our recent experience with magical events it's probably best to have a failsafe. Corporal!"

Gruendorf sprang to his feet. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"If something should happen to us - anything - ride back to Arendelle immediately and have the Commandant return with enough men to secure this whole plateau. No one else is to come up here until the crisis - whatever happens - is resolved."

"Understood, ma'am! I will make it so!"

Elsa nodded to him, then turned back to Gerda and started walking, with Anna holding her hand and keeping pace.

"Are you going to ask her about haunting the woods?" Anna said.

"Lullabies are one thing," Elsa said, "but if she actually starts talking to us I may run back and hide behind Gruendorf's cloak."

"You can't do that!"

"Why not? Because I'm the Queen?"

"No, because there won't be enough room for both of us back there!"

They stopped and looked at each other, then giggled at what Anna said...then the giggling died when they saw Gerda laughing as well. They resumed walking.

"She looks so pretty," Anna said after a few steps. "I hate to say it but death must really be good for her."

Elsa shook her head. "Only you could reduce the mystery of the afterlife to a beauty treatment."

Anna shrugged. "It's the nicest thing I can think of to say about it."

"Agreed."

As they got closer they reached out their free hands to Gerda, matching her pose. Gerda seemed to be overjoyed at that and reached out a little more.

"Do you think we'll really be able to touch her?" Anna said. "Wouldn't that be amazing?"

"I can't imagine what it would feel like," Elsa said, "but the closer we get, the more intrigued I get. I've missed Mother so much, wanted so desperately to feel her touch, see her smile...if this is truly her, I think that this would be the greatest gift she's ever given us, reaching out to us from beyond."

Their pace increased ever so slightly, free hands out, daughters reaching for a mother who was reaching back. Soon their fingertips were seperated by a foot, then mere inches, then centimeters, then there was a thrill up Elsa and Anna's spines as living fingers brushed against ghostly ones.

The contact triggered a blinding white light that filled the clearing. Elsa and Anna felt the ground fall away from them and were disoriented, as if floating aimlessly through empty space. The sensation lasted only a few moments, but was profoundly intense. Anna screamed, but neither sister could hear the sound. Their feet landed on solid ground a second later, and the light dissipated to reveal…

... _snow!_

Elsa tried to get her bearings. Afternoon had turned into late night, Summer warmth had given way to biting Winter cold, and the clear skies had been replaced by storm winds and heavy snowfall. She was standing in a drift that went halfway up her calves, and the white stuff was still coming down. They were still in the woods, but she could tell by the shape of the treeline that they weren't in that circular clearing. So where were they? Still on the plateau? Somewhere else? And where was Mother?

She was about to call out when a moan next to her reminded of her of something important. She could withstand these conditions with ease. Anna couldn't.

"Anna!" She said as she kept Anna from collapsing. The effects of the storm they were in were brutal and Anna was wearing light summer clothes...just as Elsa had commanded. She hugged Anna close and said, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

"M-my f-f-f-fault!" Anna said, hunching close to her sister. "Sh-sh-should know better...always k-k-k-keep winter stuff handy!" She tried to laugh, but the temperature was wearing her down so quickly. "S-s-s-s-ooo cold!"

Elsa stretched her free hand out and commanded the wind and the snow to die down. It did, but only in a fairly small area around them. She tried her best to also raise the temperature, but that was beyond her abilities.

"I still have my powers," Elsa said, "but this storm is natural! My ability to counteract it is limited. I can't make you more comfortable."

"W-winter somewhere…" Anna said. "Not Arendelle…"

Elsa thought about it. "Maybe it's Storybrooke?" She suddenly hoped it was. "If it is, we can get you to shelter."

"Don't...recognize…" Anna tried. She was fading.

Elsa looked around again. Storybrooke was surrounded by woods. She'd walked through a patch of them when she first broke out of the urn. They also flanked the road that led to the town line, and Ingrid The Snow Queen had hidden there to hatch her plans. The area they were in was certainly wooded, but Anna was right: none of it looked familiar.

Then something familiar came toward them out of the distance. Elsa immediately flashed back to her first moments in Storybrooke. She was walking on the road to town when something sped toward her from behind, something with blazing lights and a loud shrill screech, and at the time she thought it might be some strange demon or runaway iron coach. She lashed out with her power in panic, freezing the monster in its tracks.

But that was then. Now she knew about driving machines, and she was sure that was what she was seeing coming toward them, shining bright lights and plowing through the drifts as if they weren't there. Storybrooke or not, a driving machine meant immediate shelter for Anna. If she could get the attention of the occupants, maybe they'd be willing to help.

As she watched the machine approach she realized getting their attention wouldn't be necessary. The machine turned off the snow-covered road and pointed its lights right at them. Somehow, the driver knew they were there. That was strange, but Elsa chose not to question such good fortune. She just stood tall, held Anna up and maintained the little area of calm surrounding them.

The machine kept coming, surging through and over snowdrifts and kicking snow to either side. Elsa could tell it was big, bigger than the first one she'd frozen, and much bigger than her friend Emma's yellow one. It was squarish and painted mostly white, so that it almost blended in with the snowstorm.

It stopped about a foot outside Elsa's calm zone. Elsa had to shield her eyes from the machine's lights, but not for long. A moment later they dimmed, and a few minutes later the driver stepped out, face sunken in a hood and half-covered with a scarf. She was wearing a heavy coat, but Elsa could still tell it was a woman because she wore the same type of tight, rough leggings Emma wore - in this case, light blue ones - that showed the shape of her legs and hips. She was tall, and walked with a grace that would seem impossible given the snow on the ground and her big, fur-lined snow boots.

When the woman entered the calm zone and started to marvel at it, Elsa said, "Please, we mean you no harm. We need help. My sister is freezing. Could we please use your driving machine to shelter her?"

The woman stopped looking around and turned her attention to the sisters, mainly Anna. "It is terribly cold, isn't it?" She said.

Elsa was struck again with a sense of the familiar on hearing the woman's voice. Anna was too weak to notice. "Y-yes, ma'am…" she said, "...very…"

The woman straightened up and said cheerfully, "In that case it's a good thing I found you when I did, isn't it?" With that, she pushed back her hood and lowered the scarf from her face and smiled.

Elsa and Anna were aghast. "Ingrid!" Anna breathed.

"Never fear, girls," Ingrid said, "Auntie's here!"

 **TBC...**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

Fear was an emotion Elsa was well acquainted with. She'd spent more than a decade of her life with only fear as her constant companion. Fear of exposure, fear of being ostracized, fear of exile...but there were only two times when she truly feared for her life. The first was the time in her ice palace, surrounded by Weselton's archers trying to kill her.

The other time came later, in the castle dining hall, when Anna, angry and resentful, held the urn close and prepared to open it and let it take her.

And the architect of that situation stood before her. The fear, that primal terror, came back in full force. It caused her powers to surge and the calm zone to fluctuate. Her survival instinct kicked in, and she raised a hand toward Ingrid, ready to protect herself and Anna with all her might.

Ingrid raised her hands as well...palms out, in surrender. "Whoa! Take it easy, Elsa! I'm not here to hurt anybody either!"

"You died!" Elsa said. "You were killed by your own spell!"

"Yes! Absolutely true!" Ingrid said. "I died." She smiled. "And then I got better." No reaction from Elsa. "Okay...it's an old joke, but kind of true. I was dead and now I'm not."

"Is this your storm? Are you...are you doing this to Anna?"

"No, no! Elsa, its a natural snowstorm! I know you can tell that using your powers!"

"I don't know anything! I don't know where I am, how we got here, how you're here…"

"And you don't know what to think of me. I understand, and it's fine if you don't trust me implicitly...but honestly, Elsa, all I want to do right at this moment is get your sister somewhere warm. It won't take long at all. We just have to get her to my driving machine, like you said. Will you trust me long enough just to do that?"

Elsa wavered. She drew back her hand a little, but was still worried that Ingrid was a threat. Then Anna began to go limp in her grasp, and that made all the difference. "You _promise_ you'll help her?"

"I promise. Can you extend this quiet zone around my truck?" Elsa nodded. "Do it, and let me take Anna."

Elsa hesitated at that. She tightened her grip on Anna.

"I can provide more body heat than you can," Ingrid said. "Every little bit helps."

Frustrated, Elsa complied. She extended the calm zone as she let Ingrid take Anna. Ingrid huddled close as she half-carried Anna to the rear right door of her SUV, then she opened it and actually lifted Anna into the passenger seat. Elsa watched as she secured Anna in the seat with the safety belt, then Ingrid took off her heavy coat and practically wrapped Anna inside of it. "Now, you stay inside that coat and just try to get warm. I'll crank the heat in a minute, okay?"

Anna nodded. She was too out of it to talk.

Ingrid closed that door and shivered as she opened the right front door. "Get in! Get in!" She urged Elsa. Elsa got into the seat and closed the door.

Ingrid was hugging herself and rubbing her upper arms by the time she got around the front of the truck and into the driver's seat. She closed the door hard and let out a breath. The white cotton pullover she was wearing was apprently not proof against the temperature.

"That is _cold!"_ She said with a laugh. "I usually don't mind but I don't usually go around in this kind of winter without layers."

"You can feel the cold?" Elsa said, surprised.

"Every bit of it," Ingrid said. "That reminds me." She reached out to the driving machine's instrument panel and touched something, holding it down. A few moments later the already considerable warmth in the machine grew warmer still.

This time Anna sighed. "Feels...good…" she managed to say.

"Good," Ingrid called back. "We'll keep it there till you're all warmed up. Elsa, if it's too much on you, just let me know."

"I'll be fine, as long as Anna's okay." Elsa said. "How can you feel the cold?"

Ingrid shrugged. "No powers. Well, mostly none, definitely not enough to stave off the cold, but just enough to sense somebody else using snow magic. That's how I could find you. Without that, I might have driven right past you."

"Oh." Elsa didn't know what to say to that, so she decided to examine the interior of Ingrid's machine. The front panel, the "dashboard" according to Emma, was like something out of a fairy tale. It was dominated by a glowing magic mirror in the center that was currently displaying a colorful road map. "Emma's driving machine has nothing like this."

"It certainly doesn't," Ingrid said. She was proud of her GMC Yukon Denali, and bristled slightly at it being compared to a Volkswagen Beetle. As a child, she had always wanted her very own sleigh, a big beautiful one as white as snow and pulled by a strong white horse. In this modern age, her SUV was more than adequate compensation. "Well, shall we go?"

"Go where?" Elsa asked. "Are we near Storybrooke?"

Ingrid looked scandalized. "Hardly. Storybrooke is hundreds of miles east of here."

"Then...what woods are we in?"

"This is a nature preserve called the LaBagh Woods. It's about ten miles and change north of where we're going.

"And where is that?"

"Chicago. It's where I live now...well, one of its suburbs anyway. I'm taking you home with me."

"Oh." Again, Elsa was at loss for words, so she just watched as Ingrid operated the driving machine, a practice she found fascinating. She sat quietly as Ingrid released the emergency brake and turned the steering wheel all the way left before releasing the brake and depressing the accelerator.

And then a disembodied voice said, "In one quarter mile, turn…"

"Mute." Ingrid called out. The voice stopped before finishing its instruction.

"Does the machine talk?" Elsa said.

"Yes, but the conversation is always boring," Ingrid said, smiling. "In this case I don't need it to talk. I've driven this route before."

"Then...do you still need me to keep the machine in a calm zone?"

"Oh, no. You can relax and turn off your power for a while. In this weather it will be a long trip, but I've got my brights…" She touched something on the steering wheel and the bright lights came back. "I've got my map…" She touched the magic mirror "And I've got my own experience, plus, this beast can get through anything. I'll be fine."

Elsa nodded and continued to look around. There were a few recesses between the front seats. One was circular. "Is that a cup holder?" She asked.

Ingrid glanced to where she was looking and then turned back to the road. "Yes, that is. Did Emma have a cup holder?"

"Well, no, but...this will seem strange, but when Anna gave her husband a new sled she had the cartwrights put in a cup holder. I thought it was a strange request…"

Ingrid smiled. "Obviously the girl was ahead of her time."

"Maybe...but that isn't a cup you have in yours." The object was a silver cylinder with a black top. Elsa had never seen anything like it.

"It's a type of cup called a thermos," Ingrid said.

"What do you drink from it?"

"Depends. On a road trip, black coffee."

"I've heard of coffee but never had any."

"I remember...in Arendelle it's either tea or hot chocolate. Well, you can taste it if you'd like. It should still be fairly warm. That's what a thermos does."

Elsa looked at the cylinder suspiciously, but curiosity won out. She picked it up and tried to figure out how to drink from it.

"The top unscrews," Ingrid said. "Grip it and turn it to the left."

Elsa complied and soon had the cap off. She looked into the thermos and saw nothing but black liquid. She hesitated one more moment and then took a moderate swig. Her face immediately scrunched up. "Would you be insulted if I told you it tasted terrible?"

Ingrid grinned. "Want to hear a theory? I don't think anybody actually likes the taste of coffee, but this country is so devoted to it for its ability to wake you up that I think people force themselves to forget that. That self-delusion drives billion-dollar industries. Same with beer, for different reasons."

"I think your reasoning is sound." Elsa closed the thermos tightly and returned it to the cup holder. When she'd recovered from the bitter taste she asked, "What is this Shick-Ah-Go like? Is it a village or a kingdom?"

"Neither. It's a city, one that's actually bigger than several kingdoms in the other realm. It's home and a center of commerce for millions of people."

"Millions! There isn't even one million in Arendelle's population!"

"And Chicago isn't even the biggest city here."

"Very well, but...are the people there good people?"

Ingrid hesitated. "A couple of milion people never work completely in unison. There are good and bad people, and figuring out who's who is always a matter of trial and error."

"Oh... I see…"

"Don't worry...there are good people there. The trick is to stay on your guard until you meet them."

"Not the most optimistic outlook…"

"But definitely the most practical."

Elsa let the matter drop with a sigh and turned to look out the front windscreen. The storm continued to rage, wind howling, snow falling in clumps. "It's hard to believe this is a natural storm. It must have been a terrible shock when it hit."

"No, they've been tracking this thing for days. It's just a really badass nor'easter. It came in on the northeast coast of Maine and rode the Canada border until it got to the Great Lakes. Lake effect's sustaining it now, but it will eventually…"

She glanced at Elsa, who had a perplexed look on her face.

"...and I'm just confusing you more, aren't I? Okay, short answer: nobody with half a brain was surprised when the storm hit. Chicago isn't known for mild winters." With that she called back to Anna, "You okay back there, kiddo?"

"S'warm," Anna slurred, "M'sleepee…"

"You just go ahead and drift off, dear."

"...um-kaayyy…"

"Is that wise?" Elsa asked.

"She'll be fine. Being warm and sleepy is different from your body shutting down from the cold. You should get a little shut-eye as well. I'll wake you when we're almost there."

"Oh, I don't know if I could sleep…"

"Want to listen to some music then?"

"Could I?"

"Sure. What would you like to hear?"

"Well...what music do you listen to?"

"Modern stuff mostly. Here, try this." She talked to the magic mirror: "Plexus: Play. Music. Soundtrack. _If/Then_. Shuffle."

As directed, the magic mirror began to display a strange, wiggly image as it began to play music. Elsa watched for a moment, then sat back and listened when a vocalist began singing. After a verse, Elsa asked, "What is this?"

"It's a song from a musical play," Ingrid said. "It's called 'Learn to Live Without.'"

Elsa cocked her head. "Has the singer ever been in Arendelle?"

Ingrid snorted. "No, I'm pretty sure she's never been in Arendelle. Why do you ask."

Elsa shook her head. "It's strange. I could swear I've heard this woman sing before, but I can't place where…"

Ingrid shrugged. "Maybe you heard her music in Storybrooke…"

"No...I didn't hear any music like this there. I keep thinking it's Arendelle…"

"Well, okay...somebody in Arendelle has the exact same singing voice. Stranger things have happened."

"I suppose…" Elsa was struck by the familiarity, but ultimately decided to relax. She closed her eyes as she listened. _And not to count the deadly days/As they fade into years_ were the last lyrics she heard before she drifted into sleep…

...then she woke with a start when the same voice belted out, _What the f***! What's the deal? Can't I ever just feel what I feel?!_

Elsa blinked a couple of times and tried to focus on Ingrid as she asked, "What did she just say?"

"Pause!" Ingrid said to the mirror. When it was silent again, she said to Elsa, "You would have to wake up to that one. You looked so peaceful sleeping there."

"I'm sorry," Elsa said, straightening herself up. "I didn't mean to fall asleep…"

"It's okay, Elsa. Anna's sleeping peacefully, we're making the best time possible in this weather...it's okay for you to relax."

Elsa acquiesced with a nod, but decided to try to stay awake for the rest of the journey. Decision made, she turned to look out the front windscreen and saw something curious through the storm. "Ingrid, what are those lights?"

"What lights?"

"The ones in those mountains in the distance."

Ingrid looked closer and smiled. "Elsa, those aren't mountains. Look closer."

Elsa obeyed, and noticed that the towering formations with lights in them were strangely regular-looking, almost as if…

She gasped. "Those are buildings?"

"Yep. That's the Chicago skyline."

"There are buildings that tall in this realm?"

"There are some in different countries that are taller. It's been a while since Chicago could boast the tallest building in the world."

"Do people live in them?"

"Not all of them. Most of the tallest buildings are there for business."

"And that's where you live?"

"Well, close. I live in Evanston, which we'll reach soon. I only work in the city proper."

"I think maybe I should have stayed asleep."

"Too late. Now that you're up, I'm going to impose on you and your powers in a little while. Ah, there's our exit."

Elsa kept silent as Ingrid turned the machine off the wide road onto a smaller one. Soon the view of the tall buildings of the city were obscured by smaller, closer ones, but ones no less impressive-looking to Elsa. Soon those gave way to even smaller buildings and then shops and lesser storefronts, then finally to houses, most of which were dark and quiet.

At this point Ingrid talked to the mirror again. "Safe House on. Heat to Seventy. Lights to Standby."

The image in the mirror changed again to display tiny pictures. Other than that, nothing in the machine had changed, and Ingrid hadn't bothered to explain what she'd just done.

They drove on for a few more minutes until finally Ingrid stopped the machine in front of a darkened house. It was a sizeable two-story dwelling with what looked like a stable attached on the left side.

"Garage open," Ingrid said to the mirror, and the big door in the front of the stable started rolling upward, revealing a large empty space inside.

Ingrid smiled. "Okay, here's where I use you. You see that door that just opened?"

"Yes," Elsa said.

"I'm going to put this beast in there, but I don't want to climb over all that snow in front of it. Do you think you can clear a path as wide as the door frame from here to the opening?"

Elsa took another look at the snow piled in front of the stable - the garage. "Yes...yes, I can do that."

"Show me."

Elsa nodded and stretched her hand toward the garage. This time she wouldn't be trying to counteract the whole storm. She just needed to redirect the wind for her purposes. This she did by projecting her power through the window. Seconds later a sparkling blue tornado lay on its side in the snow blocking the garage and flung the snow in layers onto the snow on the front lawn. In less than a minute, the path Ingrid asked for was clear.

Ingrid grinned. "Good Girl! Very good girl!"

Elsa smiled in spite of herself. It was a small accomplishment, really, but she rarely heard praise for the use of her powers from anyone but Anna and Kristoff, so she gladly accepted the compliment. Then, she watched as Ingrid touched the magic mirror. The little pictures disappeared, and the mirror seemed to show a view of the weather outside, as if it were another window.

"This way I don't have to stick my head out to look behind me," Ingrid said, then she used the view in the magic mirror to reverse the driving machine into the garage. As the back of the machine crossed the threshold, lights suddenly came on in the space. Ingrid turned her chariot's lights off and kept backing up until it was centered. She parked, called out "Garage close" and turned the machine off as the big front door started sliding down again. When it was fully closed, Ingrid let out a breath and closed her eyes.

"Home at last," she said. "I could have stayed where I was when the storm hit but I just like weathering storms in my own home."

"So this is your home," Elsa said, curious.

"Well, not the garage," Ingrid chuckled. She pointed to the right, drawing Elsa's gaze out the passenger window to the door to the kitchen. "Home is through there."

"Well, in that case, I'd like to take Anna inside immediately and lay her by a warm fire."

"That would be difficult. I don't have a fireplace." Ingrid smirked at that, then glanced at Elsa and realized she'd gone pale at the remark. "I keep forgetting...the entire house is heated by other means. I turned the heat on on the way here but I've been away for a few days, so I want to make sure it's nice and toasty before we go in. We'll just stay in the car a few more minutes. In the meantime, you should wake your sister up. The garage won't heat up nearly as fast as the rest of the place so I want to get out and then get in as quickly as possible."

Elsa nodded and turned to try and wake Anna up, a task that was usually Herculean in proportion. She tapped the girl's knee and said, "Anna, wake up."

Anna stopped snoring long enough to mutter, "Who's it?"

"It's Elsa, Anna. We're here."

"We're dear," Anna muttered, completely accepting the idea.

"No, Anna, we're at Aunt Ingrid's house."

"We're on an english mouse," Anna said, again totally accepting the idea.

Elsa shook her head and Anna's knee. "Anna!"

This time Anna woke with a start and the first thing her eyes locked onto was Elsa's face. "Elsa! you wouldn't believe the nightmare I just had! We were trapped in a super snowstorm, and I was dying, and you'll never guess who saved us! It was Aunt-EEP!"

Ingrid had just turned her head so Anna could see her. She grinned at Anna's surprised look and said, "No no, dear. It's 'Ing,' then 'grid.'"

Anna smiled nervously and said, "Hi, Aunt Ingrid…"

"Hi, Anna. Feeling better?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"That's good. Well, I guess it's warm enough inside now." Ingrid gathered up her thermos, a bag that looked like a normal woman's purse and a rectangular object that had been resting in a slot just under the magic mirror. It looked like a smaller version. With these things in hand she opened her door and got out of the driving machine. "Elsa, help Anna out while I unlock the door." With that she shut the driver's side door and went around back to the kitchen door.

Elsa got out and went to the rear door to get Anna. She pulled off Ingrid's coat and unbuckled Anna and helped her out of the vehicle. "Whoo! It's cold in here!" Anna said. "Not as bad as outside, but…"

"Don't worry...almost done." Ingrid was touching small number pads on a box on the wall next to the door. When she was done there was a small beep and tiny light changed from red to green. "There we go. Girls, make sure those doors are closed tight."

Elsa and Anna nodded and turned to slam the passenger doors closed on the car. A moment later, Ingrid brandished a set of keys and aimed the keyholder at it. She gave it a squeeze and the doors locked with a loud _thunk!_

Ingrid dropped the keys back in her purse and opened the kitchen door. "In you go," she said. Elsa and Anna stayed close together as they walked through and Ingrid followed on their heels. As they moved Anna and Elsa couldn't help but notice that the kitchen lights came on by themselves just as the light in the garage went out. Ingrid said nothing as she closed the door and used a box on the other side to secure it.

The girls looked around while Ingrid rested her things on an "island" in the center of the space. It wasn't as big a kitchen as the one in the castle in Arendelle but it was big enough to have its own breakfast nook with a small table and four chairs, plus the island and devices the girls couldn't begin to name.

Ingrid asked Anna, "Is it better in here? Warmer?"

"Mm-hmm," Anna said, still marveling at the strange place.

"Good. The heating system is very good so it should be the same temperature throughout the house."

"Here's your coat," Elsa said as she handed it back.

"Thank you. Now, do you girls want anything to eat or drink?" Both girls shook their heads. "Okay...come along then."

Ingrid walked toward a doorway at the other end of the kitchen. Anna and Elsa fell in step with her just as she crossed the threshold. This time, the light in the kitchen went out as lights turned on in the large sitting room, one filled with soft-looking cushioned chairs and couches, side tables, and what looked like a giant magic mirror mounted to one wall. Anna barely had a second to take that in, because Ingrid led them directly to a staircase and started upstairs. Ingrid had barely gone up a few steps before the light above the stairs turned on.

It was too much for Anna. "Wait! Isn't anybody going to say something about the lights going on and off by themselves?"

The three of them stood near the bottom of the stairs for about a minute, then Elsa said quietly, "Aunt Ingrid has been doing amazing magic all night…"

"It is _NOT_ …" Ingrid closed her eyes and forced down the rant that almost escaped her. Instead, she calmed herself down and went on in a more pleasant tone. "Anna, all the utilities in the house are controlled by machines that I can access using this-" She held up the small mirror. "-my phone. Elsa, when this is plugged into my car I can access the functions through the car's display. So I used the phone to send signals to the house that turned on the heat and set the lights to standby. When the lights are in standby mode they turn on and off when people enter or leave rooms in the house, and will keep doing so until I turn an actual switch to 'on' or 'off.' It is not magic. I'm simply using technology that is available in this realm but not available in Arendelle...and I would like to explain more of it to you, but it's late, I've had a long drive and I'd like to get us all settled in for the night, so can we please talk about it more in the morning?"

The girls, chastened, said in unison, "Yes, Aunt Ingrid."

"Okay. Come on upstairs."

Ingrid turned and headed up again. Elsa and Anna followed a second later. Anna forced herself not to notice when the sitting room lights went out.

At the top of the stairs Ingrid touched an object on the wall. The staircase light stayed on, so Elsa presumed she'd just touched a "switch." Before she could ask about it, Ingrid pointed to the right and said, "Okay, the bathroom is at the end of the hall on the left. You two go ahead. When you're done come to the big bedroom at the other end. I'll be making that up for you."

Elsa nodded in understanding, but Anna couldn't help but ask, "Wait...do we really need baths? I know we were in the woods all day, but…"

She was about to sniff her armpit again when Elsa intervened. "Anna, you weren't here long enough last time to find out. In this realm, they take their baths in the same room where they keep…" A little blush. "...their privvies."

Anna's eyes widened. "OOOOh!" She said, then she chuckled...then her face scrunched up. "Wait...why would anybody want to bathe in the same room where they keep their privy?"

Elsa sighed and took Anna's hand in hers. "There are some questions about this realm it's better just not to ask." Then to Ingrid: "We'll be out soon." With that she pulled Anna toward the bathroom. Ingrid chuckled as she went in the opposite direction.

Twenty minutes later, Elsa and Anna were finished and making their way to the bedroom Ingrid had indicated. They found her there putting fresh sheets on the large bed that dominated the space. Anna immediately trotted in and started helping. Elsa walked in more sedately and examined the decor. The bedroom was a study in light-dark contrast. The bed, the carpet and the walls were all various shades of white, while the wardrobe, chest-of-drawers, night tables and roll-top desk in the room were all made of a dark oak. The only exception as far as furniture was concerned was a white make-up table, with a real mirror surrounded by lights and decorated with lace. The curtains decorating the windows were also lacy and different shades of white. Elsa went over to look out and saw that they overlooked the street. The storm was still going strong outside.

"Elsa, come on over," Ingrid said. She and Anna had finished making the bed and turned it down. Elsa went to stand next to Anna by one of the nighttables. Ingrid was standing by the other one.

"I want to show you girls something," Ingrid said. There was a small lamp on each nighttable. Ingrid pointed to the one near her and said, "Right now these two lamps are lighting the room. You can turn them on and off with a little switch built into them. It's like a small peg. Reach under the shade, feel for the peg, and push the long part in." She did this and turned off the near lamp. "Push the peg the other way when you want to turn it back on." She demonstrated again. "See? Simple."

Anna's curiosity was piqued and she immediately tried to look under the shade and see the peg with her own eyes. The brightness of the unshaded bulb reminded her that her impetuousness was often a bad thing. As she walked away from the table rubbing her eyes, Elsa turned the light off and on the way Ingrid showed them.

"Very good," Ingrid said. "So, do you like the room?"

"I'll let you know when I can see again!" Anna said.

"It's beautiful," Elsa said. "I didn't expect you to have guest quarters that were so well appointed."

"Oh, this isn't the guest room. That's across the hall. This is my bedroom."

Anna's vision cleared just as that statement hit her. "Wait...what?"

"This is your bedroom?" Elsa said. "We can't sleep here!"

"Why not?" Ingrid said. "You said you liked it."

"But we don't want to put you out!" Anna said. "Why don't we just sleep in the guest room?"

Ingrid shook her head. "This is the only bed big enough for you two to share."

"But we don't have to share!" Elsa said.

"Right!" Anna said. "Elsa can take the bed, and I can sleep on cushions on the floor! I've done it…"

Ingrid raised a hand to stop her, then said very seriously, "I know from personal experience that your first night in a place this strange can be very lonely. Believe me...you should have each other's company and keep each other close. If you want we can talk about different arrangements tomorrow, but as far as I'm concerned, until you go back home, this is your room. No more arguments, okay?"

Again, chastened, the girls said in unison, "Yes, Aunt Ingrid."

"Good."

"Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said, "in that case, do you have anything for us to sleep in? I wouldn't want to sleep in our clothes…"

"Oh! Of course!" Ingrid went over to the wardrobe, opened it up and pulled three folded garments from a drawer inside, one dark blue and two red. She tucked one red one under her arm, gave the other to Anna and the blue one to Elsa.

"I don't wear fancy nightgowns anymore," Ingrid said. "These are nightshirts. They're much more comfortable."

Anna blinked. "I thought nightshirts were only for men."

Ingrid grinned. "Well around here, men give their skinny wives the nightshirts so they can ogle them! Now...I want you to take absolutely everything off."

"Everything?" Elsa said.

"Yes, put your shoes on the floor in the closet and all your clothes in the hamper in the corner. Don't worry. You'll be warm enough once you're under the covers and, as I said, it's much more comfortable." With that wisdom imparted, Ingrid headed for the door. At the threshold she turned to say something:

"I know you two have misgivings about being in my presence again. I completely understand, but however you feel about me, I'm glad to have you both in my home. If you need anything overnight, just knock on my door. I'm right across the hall." She smiled, added "Good night," and closed the door behind her.

Elsa and Anna watched the closed door for a moment, then turned to look at each other. "Okay…?" Anna said. She and Elsa placed their nightshirts on opposite sides of the bed and went over to what Ingrid called a hamper.

"It looks like a basket," Anna said.

Elsa touched it. "But this isn't wicker. I don't know what it's made of."

"Why would you make a wicker basket out of something that isn't wicker?"

Elsa shrugged and gingerly lifted the lid. There was nothing in it but bedding, presumably what had just been taken off the bed.

"It doesn't look evil," Anna tried.

After a moment more inspecting the hamper the girls straightened up and turned away from each other. They began to disrobe, starting with their shoes and going through stockings, dresses, slips, bloomers and corsets, discarding them in the hamper as each article came off. When they were done they kept their eyes averted from each other as they brought their shoes to Ingrid's walk-in closet and dropped them on the tile floor. Then they returned to the bed and slipped on the nightshirts. Only then did they look at each other again.

"Yours says 'Bulls,'" Elsa said. "And there's a bull on it."

Anna stretched out the garment and looked down. Sure enough, the word "Bulls" was written across her chest in black over white script, and the image of a bull's head and horns was drawn under it. The bull's face was as red as the rest of the shirt.

As she puzzled over that, Anna got a good look at Elsa's shirt. "Yours says 'Bears.'"

Elsa looked down. "Where?" All she could see on her chest was a big orange "C."

Anna pointed. "On the side."

Elsa hitched the left side of the garment up her hip and looked down. "Bears" was written in big white block letters on the navy background of the nightshirt.

Anna was still puzzling. "What's the 'C' stand for?"

Elsa sighed. "I don't know. I also don't know why Aunt Ingrid would have nightshirts that celebrate bears and bulls."

"Well, maybe she became a naturalist when she came back to life."

"Why would you think that?"

Anna shrugged. "She made us get naked and put on animal shirts."

There was the longest pause, and then Elsa said, "That...almost makes sense. Let's just go to bed."

The girls sat on opposite sides of the bed and took out their braids before laying down and pulling up the covers. Once they had themselves tucked in they turned off the lamps on the nighttables. Now the only light in the room came from moonlight reflected off still falling snow. The only sound the howl of storm winds.

After a few minutes of laying in silence, Anna asked softly, "Elsa, do you think we can trust Ingrid?"

Elsa thought about it, then said, "I'm the wrong person to ask."

"Why?"

"Because the last time I thought to answer 'yes' you ended up in the dungeon and I ended up in an urn." They turned to each other and Elsa continued. "I was just so happy to meet someone like me I'd thrown caution to the wind...and we paid for it. But you were always suspicious of her. You were skeptical, and then you had good reason. It's the same right now. I can't judge her properly because she saved you, and I'll always be grateful for that, no matter what. So...do you think we can trust Ingrid?"

Anna thought, then said, "Yes."

"Why? And don't say 'because...instinct.'"

"Okay, then how about 'because...memory?'"

"I don't understand…."

"Do you remember when mother used to tuck us in at night?"

"Of course."

"What I remember after the lullabies and the stories...what I remember most from that time is the last moment when she would stand by the door and smile just before she put out the lamp and left. I loved that smile. It was like she was saying 'You've run around all day but now I have you safe and sound, and I won't let anything happen to you tonight.' Remember that smile?"

"i suppose, but what does that have to do with Ingrid?"

"Because when Ingrid wished us good night that was the first time I'd seen that smile in ages. That smile, which mother saved for our goodnight. I don't know if it's just because they have similar features or if Ingrid is somehow channeling mother...whatever, I just don't think she'll hurt us."

Elsa let that sink in, then said, "Maybe, but what if she's glad she's saved us because we wouldn't survive whatever she has planned for Chicago?"

"Well, yeah, if you want to be negative about it…" Anna said, "...wait...what's shick-ah-go?"

"It's a nearby city with giant buildings and millions of people, and Ingrid said she worked there, but she never said what kind of work."

"Do you think it might be like 'Storybrooke' work?"

"I don't know. I just don't want to lower my guard. If everything I've seen her do tonight was done without magic, if she has some secret magic…"

"...it must be incredible." Anna said. "So, what do we do? Just go to sleep, or do we wait for Ingrid to go to sleep and make a break for it?"

Elsa smiled. "Let's not be hasty. You'd never survive the storm and I have no idea how to contact our Storybrooke friends. We really are better off here for now. Let's get some rest, and tomorrow we'll try to find out more about Ingrid's true plans."

"Right. And if she's planning some kind of nefarious evil, we'll face it, together."

"Right. Together."

They drew close and hugged, kissed each other's cheeks and settled into the middle of the bed.

"Good night, Elsa."

"Good night, Anna."

A few minutes later, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

At that moment, just outside the door, an eavesdropping Ingrid smiled an amused smile and turned to go to bed.

 **TBC...**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

 **REVIEW RESPONSE:** Thanks for the suggestion, Nissan, but I already have plans for an Ingrid ship for future stories, but for this story there won't be any ships for anybody. Like I said, this is strictly about Arendelle Sisters.

And I know everybody wants to pair Elsa off with Jack Frost. I don't know why. My preference is Iceman from the X-Men.

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

When Elsa woke the next morning the sun was up and the storm had subsided completely. Anna was still snoring away peacefully. Elsa gently extricated herself from Anna's grasp and slid out of bed. Once she was on her feet she walked over to the window and looked out. The world was covered in a nearly flawless blanket of white. It made her smile.

Then again, it also reminded her of her and Anna's situation. With that in mind, she tiptoed out of the bedroom and to the door across the hall. It was open, so she peeked inside. The bedroom was slightly smaller than Ingrid's and much more spartan. No lace, no frills, just a utilitarian sleep chamber. The bed looked slept in. She didn't see Ingrid.

She ducked out of the room and looked up the hall. Ingrid could be in the bathroom, and there were two other closed doors that led to who-knew-what. Elsa considered investigating them, but thought better of it. She didn't want to find Ingrid. She wanted to snoop around without Ingrid watching.

Elsa tiptoed over to the stairs and started down, pausing to make sure the lights wouldn't turn on by themselves. When they didn't she snuck all the way downstairs and through the sitting room to the front door. It had one of those number boxes on the wall next to it, so presumably only Ingrid could open it. If that was true for all the doors, then just making a break for it was never an option anyway.

A noise from outside drew Elsa to one of the front windows. It sounded like a noisy driving machine was approaching. After a few minutes she saw it: it was big and yellow and had what looked like a cow catcher mounted on the front end. It was driving slowly down the street, pushing the snow to the side. Fascinated, she watched the vehicle until it drove all the way past and out of sight. The sound of it lingered for several more seconds.

She didn't hear Ingrid's voice until the machine noise subsided. It was coming from the kitchen. Elsa hesitated, wondering if Ingrid had heard her come downstairs. Then she heard a second voice, young, female...Ingrid was talking to someone, but who? And when had she come into the house?

When Ingrid didn't react to her presence, Elsa tiptoed as softly as she could to the side of the kitchen door and put her back to it, then she slowly turned to peek around the doorframe. She saw Ingrid, still in her red nightshirt, standing by the island. She had her back to the door, and she was holding the little magic mirror - she'd called it a "phone" last night - so she could look at the display. "Did you have trouble clearing the front walk?" Ingrid said.

"Nah, we were fine," the girl said - Elsa realized the voice was coming from the phone. "We dumped a bunch of de-icer on the snow and what was left was easy to pick up."

"Good job. How short-handed are you?"

"Melinda called in. She can't get that jalopy of hers out of the driveway till they clear her street."

"Need me to come in?"

"No, we got it covered. We're on schedule and doing fine. Guest traffic's light, as you can imagine…"

"Okay, I'll leave you to it then. See you tomorrow."

"See you, boss!"

Ingrid touched part of the phone with her thumb and set the device on the island, then, without looking back, she called out, "You can stop sneaking around, Elsa. I'm not planning world domination."

Elsa cursed under her breath and turned to walk demurely into the kitchen. She stopped next to Ingrid at the island and said, "How did you know it was me? Did you sense my power somehow?"

Ingrid shrugged. "It's an old house. The floors creak, even if you tiptoe. And, I'm pretty sure Anna wouldn't be up this early, so, process of elimination…" She smiled.

"Right," Elsa said. "Just now, I saw a driving machine…"

"Car, Elsa. Short for 'Horseless Carriage.'"

"Car...sorry...this 'car' had something on the front of it that was pushing the snow off the road…"

"Oh! Snow plow! That's great! The city decided to pay the overtime instead of waiting till tomorrow. That doesn't always happen…"

"There are cars just for pushing snow off the road?"

"There are cars with all sorts of narrow functions."

"Oh."

"Well, now that you are up, are you hungry? I was just about to start breakfast."

"Yes, thank you."

"Okay, let me get started." Ingrid went over to the tall metal cupboard near the door to the garage. Elsa remembered that Emma's family had one like it in their home. It was a cold cupboard of some kind, though Elsa had no idea where you put the ice. Ingrid took eggs and bacon from hers, but they were in strange packaging.

As Ingrid went to get bread from a bread holder on the counter, Elsa caught a glimpse of what her nightshirt said. "Black Hawks?"

Ingrid stopped and looked at her. "What's that?"

"Your night-shirt has an animal theme as well," Elsa said. "Bears, bulls, black hawks...one would think you had gone pagan…"

Ingrid just stared for a second, then started laughing. "They're _sports teams_ , Elsa!"

"What are 'sports teams'?"

Ingrid made herself stop laughing but couldn't stop smiling as she explained more fully. "Those are the names of sporting clubs who play team games for profit and entertainment. The Bears play a game known as American Football, which is Rugby with different rules and more padding. The Bulls play a game called Basketball, which you wouldn't have heard of since it was only invented around the turn of the last century."

"But I assume it involves a ball and a basket?" Elsa ventured.

"Two baskets, actually," Ingrid said. "As for the Blackhawks-" She turned fully toward Elsa. Now Elsa could see the full image of the tribal man with the feathered headdress. "They play hockey…"

"Oh, I've heard of that," Elsa said, "but that's not a sport you can play in weather like this. It's a summer game."

"Field hockey is a summer game," Elsa said, "and that's how hockey in this realm started, but professional hockey teams play the game on ice."

Elsa blinked. "On ice? You can play hockey on ice?"

Ingrid grinned. "Picture it, Elsa: Big burly men armored up like knights skating at high speeds and trying to shove each other away from a little piece of clay, all on a big, beautiful slab of white ice."

Elsa turned away to try and picture such a spectacle. Field hockey on a field of ice! Played by knights!

"I must see that…" She said finally.

"I'll show you later," Ingrid said. Her tone of voice promised wonders.

"So," Elsa said, "sporting clubs playing games. Do they play in Chicago?"

"Yes. The Chicago Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks. This is their hometown."

"And they named themselves after animals. Do all sports clubs do that?"

"Not all...and technically, the Blackhawks are named after a native tribe. The tribe named themselves after the animal."

"Ah. Well, I'm sure Anna will be glad to hear that. She thought you might have turned into a raving naturalist."

"Wrong time for that. If you're here in the summer you'll see me get my Nature Girl on." Ingrid grinned at that, then resumed gathering what she needed to cook breakfast.

"Speaking of Anna, I don't think I thanked you properly for helping her last night…"

"And you don't have to. We're family. We help each other."

"So you consider Anna family now?"

Ingrid stopped in her tracks. Elsa thought she might have gone a step too far, but Ingrid's presence had brought everything that happened in Storybrooke back, and had the Snow Queen's plans succeeded…

Ingrid took a deep breath and said, "It's not a matter for consideration. It simply is. Anna is my niece, and I will be there for her whenever I can. You too, Elsa."

Before either of them could say anything else a creaking sound came from the ceiling. Ingrid turned to Elsa and smiled, touching a finger to her lips. They remained silent as the creaking reached the top of the stairs, then came down the stairs. Soon they could hear a voice rasping, "Elsa! Elsa, where are you? Are you down here? I think Ingrid's gone! She wasn't in her bedrOOP!" She'd looked into the kitchen and seen Ingrid standing by the sink, smiling and waving. She stood still and waved back. "Hi, Aunt Ingrid."

"Good Morning, Anna," Ingrid said. "Come on in."

Anna walked carefully into the kitchen and spotted Elsa standing by the island, so she went to stand next to her. "You could have warned me she was here," she said through her smiling teeth.

" _How_ , exactly?" Elsa whispered back.

"Well," Ingrid said, "now that we're all here, you two go sit over there and let me make breakfast, okay?"

Elsa and Anna obeyed and went to sit at the breakfast nook while Ingrid went back to preparing food. While they waited they talked in whispers. "Ingrid said these shirts celebrate sporting clubs," Elsa said. "They name the clubs after animals sometimes."

"Why that's silly!" Anna said. "What if you had a cricket team named the Crickets and a cricket came up to bat? People's heads would explode!"

Elsa just stared for a moment, then said, "I don't think that would be a problem here."

"Well, never mind...did you find out anything before Ingrid caught you?"

"She didn't catch me...well, she did a little...no, I didn't find anything. I did see a car push snow around…"

"Where is it? Maybe we can use it to reach Storybrooke!"

"Yes, if we knew how to get to Storybrooke from here, and if we knew how to drive driving machines, and we could steal that one from whoever owns it…"

Suddenly Ingrid was at the table. "Girls," she whispered, "could you interrupt planning your great escape long enough to tell me how you want your eggs?"

The girls blushed and smiled. "Scrambled," Elsa said.

"Sunny side up, please," Anna said. Ingrid nodded and walked away, and Anna whispered, "I guess we don't whisper quietly enough…"

"No, you don't," Ingrid said clearly.

The girls frowned and Elsa said, "We're sorry, Aunt Ingrid. We don't mean to be so calculating. It's just…"

"...you're having perfectly normal reactions to seeing me again," Ingrid said. "Don't worry, Elsa. I know it's up to me to earn your trust."

"In that case, will you answer a question honestly?"

"Of course."

"Did you really do everything you did last night without magic?"

"Really. The only magic I did last night was making you clear the driveway."

"So this really is a realm without magic?"

"Absolutely."

"But, wait…" Anna said, "if this is a realm without magic, how can Elsa still have her powers?"

"Because saying it's a realm without magic is different from saying magic is not allowed."

Anna's eyebrow went up. "Say what, now?"

Ingrid cracked some eggs over a bowl and explained. "Elsa still has her powers because whatever power sent you here decided she needed them. As long as your need for magic is deemed worthy, you can have magic in this realm. The reason it seems devoid of magic is because few people in this day and age have a need for it."

"Because there are devices in this realm that do magical things…" Elsa said.

"Exactly! I don't need to put a protection spell over my house because I have an alarm system. I don't need a scrying pool to tell me what's happening in the world because I have cable television. I don't have magic mirrors. I have Skype and Android, which do everything magic mirrors have ever been used for. A smart man in this realm once said, 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' Welcome to the world he was talking about."

Anna was floored. "How come they never said anything about that in Storybrooke? They just said, 'Don't cross the line! There's no magic!'"

"Ugh! Storybrooke!" Ingrid said as she lined a heated pan with bacon strips. "Storybrooke is the most insular town I've ever seen. Its problem is everybody that ends up there is addicted to magic to one degree or another, starting with all the original residents. Sure, they have modern stuff, like cell phones, but they're practically all flip phones. And the main eatery is straight out of the fifties. It has a jukebox for goodness' sake!"

"What's a jukebox?" Anna asked.

"Most kids your age in this realm don't know either. That's my point. They all like to claim they're used to the modern world, but the truth is if any of them actually crossed the town line and tried to live in it they'd be screwed. For them, a world without magic is a terrifying prospect. So they keep a town going that should have been dissolved or assimilated long ago, and they keep it isolated and shielded from true modernity just so it can contain all sorts of magic."

"You sound like you don't like Storybrooke, Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said.

"I don't have much reason to like it."

"What about Emma?" Anna said. "Don't you like her?"

"My affection for Emma predates Storybrooke. Sometimes I wish neither of us had ever ended up there. I spent more than a decade there living a lie just so I could destroy it and live a second one. Bad memories. I'm glad to be done with the place."

Conversation halted for a while after that, leaving the only sounds in the kitchen those of food sizzling on the griddle. Ingrid was fine with that. Talking about Storybrooke left a bad taste in her mouth, so she just cooked and didn't say anything else, waiting for the girls to restart the conversation. They didn't. They hadn't expected Ingrid's animosity toward Storybrooke and were still trying to understand it.

Finally Ingrid broke the silence herself. "Anna, would you lay out some silver? I'm almost done here."

Anna got up. "Sure. Where is it?"

Ingrid pointed at a cabinet drawer. "Right there. We just need forks and knives. No elaborate settings."

"Okay." She shrugged at Elsa before heading to the indicated drawer and pulling out some flatware.

Elsa watched this, sighed and said, "Can I do something, Ingrid?"

"There are some juices at the bottom of the 'fridge," Ingrid told her. "Take out the ones you two would like to drink."

"All right." Elsa got up, not quite sure what the word "fridge" meant, but Ingrid had pointed at the metal cold cupboard, so she assumed that's what a fridge was. The cupboard had two doors, one wide and one narrow. She opened the wide one...and saw there was a light inside. She wondered idly if it also turned on and off by itself before she looked down to the bottom shelf. There were several squarish containers with round tops like Ingrid's thermos. Elsa picked one up. It felt like thick, glossy paper. It had "Orange Juice" written on it. She kept that and looked again. There was another container that said "Grapefruit Juice." Elsa held on to that one too and went back to the table, closing the door with her foot.

Elsa sat the juices on the center of the table while Anna laid out the forks and knives, then Anna went back to the cabinets to look for glasses. She found them just as Ingrid was walking over with a plate stacked with toast and a butter tray with a butter knife. Once everything was laid out, Ingrid brought over their meals. Each of them had three long strips of bacon and three eggs. Ingrid had prepared the girls' eggs as requested and fried them for herself. They said a quick prayer and began to eat. Elsa started on her eggs first thing. Ingrid started to butter some toast.

Anna wanted to pour herself some grapfruit juice. "I love this stuff!" She said. "It makes my mouth all scrunchy!" Elsa and Ingrid chuckled at that while Anna examined the container. "How do you open it?"

"Twist the thing on top until it comes off," Elsa said, then to Ingrid, "Right?"

"Right," Ingrid said, "just like the thermos."

So Anna did that, but was still confused. "The hole is blocked!"

"Oh, right," Ingrid said, "I haven't started that one yet. That's a security feature."

"Security feature?" Anna was immediately curious. It looked like there was some sort of ring in the hole, so she lifted it above her head to get a good look. She started to reach for it as she said, "So do I just pull this ring…?"

"No!" Ingrid said with a mouthful of toast. When she had Anna's attention, she swallowed and said, "Put the container down first." When Anna complied, "Now pull the ring."

Anna did so and smiled when the ring pulled the block with it. "Cool! But why is it like that? Does it keep people from stealing the juice?"

"You'd be surprised," Ingrid said, trying not to laugh at the idea of Anna drenching herself in a half-gallon of Minute Maid. Instead she opened the orange juice and poured some for herself and Elsa while Anna poured her juice. Then eating began in earnest.

When she was halfway done, Anna said, "This is really good, Aunt Ingrid."

"Thank you," Ingrid said. "I know it's not as good as the royal chef's…"

"It's fine," Elsa said. "I'm sure I couldn't do any of this myself."

"You should learn," Ingrid said. "In all the years I've been in this realm the smartest thing I learned to do is cook for myself. You don't have to learn anything fancy, just some basics that will help you make things that are tasty and filling. When you practice and learn to do it well it makes you feel good about yourself."

"Well, maybe I could, if I'm here long enough, but I wouldn't have time in Arendelle. I have too many responsibilities."

"Of course...and speaking of that, you never told me exactly how you two ended up back in this realm."

Elsa and Anna stopped chewing and looked at Ingrid wide-eyed.

Ingrid smiled. "C'mon, girls, you know the one thing you're both dying to know is how I'm alive and living in the suburbs, right?" They nodded. "Well, then we all have stories to tell, so when we're done with breakfast I'm going to make us some nice hot chocolate and we're going to take it into the living room and tell those stories. All right?"

Ingrid went back to her breakfast. Elsa and Anna looked at each other with eyebrows raised and went back to their meals, wondering how they would tell Ingrid they were transported to the suburbs by the ghost of her dead sister.

 **TBC...**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

With the breakfast dishes cleared and put in a humming machine Ingrid called a "dishwasher" - in the castle that was a member of the kitchen staff - Elsa and Anna watched as Ingrid made three small mugs of hot chocolate using boiled water and dark chocolate flakes from a fancy tin. With a little milk and sugar added, the resulting drinks smelled heavenly to the girls. Ingrid put the mugs on a tray and carried it into the sitting room. She set it down on the center coffee table and sat down on one of the soft couches flanking it. Elsa and Anna sat together on the other couch. The girls waited for Ingrid to take her mug before taking theirs, then they all blew on the drinks and took their first sip at the same time. They all sighed. It was perfect.

"All right," Ingrid said, "story time. Who wants to go first?"

The girls looked at her nervously, then exchanged sidelong glances with each other before looking away and drinking more of their chocolate without answering.

Ingrid shook her head and smiled. "Fine. I'll go first."

* * *

 **Storybrooke, One Year Ago…**

Ingrid stood in her lair, reading the final note her youngest sister had written to Elsa and Anna. Elsa, Anna and Emma were nearby. They could see it as she started to break down.

"Oh, Gerda…" Ingrid said with a cracking voice. She touched the small stone embedded in the wax of the seal. Soon she was struck by visions of her days with her sisters, as children and as young women. It made her smile and tear up. Then she looked around, and her smile gave way to a look of horror.

"What have I done?" She muttered. "I need to reverse this…"

"'You can't!" Anna said "The only way is if you…!"

"I know! I have to destroy myself!" She used her powers to begin drawing the shards of the dark mirror to herself.

"No, Ingrid…" Elsa said.

"Wait!" Emma said.

"There's no other way!" Ingrid said. "I _am_ a monster! Not because of my powers, but because of what I let them turn me into! I have to undo this."

Elsa was distraught. "No, Ingrid, you'll die!"

"I know, and its okay…" It didn't feel okay. The shards were surrounding her, attacking her. She felt them all, but hid her pain from the others. "Elsa, Anna...you've found each other. And Emma...you found your family, even if it wasn't with me. You deserve your memories." With her waning power, she reached a smooth stone out to the others and activated it. Streams of energy touched Emma and Elsa's minds. Now Elsa could remember all her experiences with Ingrid, and Emma remembered her days living with Ingrid in the home she ran as Sarah Fisher.

"You three are _so_ special," Ingrid said as the shattered sight spell began to destroy her. "Never forget that."

"There has to be another way," Emma said. "You deserve your happy ending too."

"Long ago, a prophecy told me that you would lead me to just that, Emma," Ingrid said, "and this is it. All I wanted was to have my sisters' love...and now I have it. Now, I get to join them." The spell completed its work at that moment. The pain had subsided, but now Ingrid felt herself breaking apart, disintegrating. Her lair, her nieces, Emma...everything faded from existence, leaving her stuck in a featureless void…

...then light seeped into the void, and slowly Ingrid began to feel solid again, and eventually she was standing in a field of grass, one she recognized. This was where it had happened, where she first manifested her powers and killed the man who'd tried to kidnap her and her sisters. Odd...she could see all three in the distance, Helga, Gerda and herself, laughing and running together and just being innocent children.

"They're not us anymore," a familiar voice said behind her. "We passed that stage in our lives long ago."

Ingrid turned...and started to tear up when she saw who was standing there. "Helga!"

She was still wearing the ball gown she'd been wearing that day. Her hair was still made up, her face still exquisite. Every bit the queen she deserved to be.

"I'm so glad to see you, Ingrid," Helga said. Ingrid couldn't speak after that. She broke down fully and the sisters fell into each others' arms. They spent several minutes just holding onto each other, Ingrid sobbing freely and Helga whispering in her ear, "It's okay, it's okay…"

Finally Ingrid found her voice. "I didn't mean to hurt you! I swear I didn't! I was just…!"

Helga hugged her closer. "I know, Ingrid," she said, "I know everything! I know what really happened. You were protecting me. My big sister loved me and tried to protect me. I know!"

Ingrid went back to sobbing, and Helga just held on, letting her get it all out of her system. It was a long time before Ingrid could get control of herself again. By then they were sitting down in the grass, no longer hugging but sitting close with arms-around-waists. Ingrid's final sobs turned to light chuckles as she wiped her eyes with her hands. "Look at me," she said, "I've made a mess of myself...of both of us."

Helga shook her head and smiled. "Easily fixed." She waved a hand in front of Ingrid's face. When she took her hand away any hint that Ingrid had just been crying her eyes out had disappeared.

Ingrid touched her face and smiled. "You have magic, too."

Helga shrugged. "In this place, anyway. It's here for me to fill with whatever I love, and the magic serves that purpose. Today, I got the chance to bring you here."

"You still love me? Even after…"

"Ingrid, Ingrid...I'll state it plainly: I know you were only trying to help me. I forgive you, and of course I still love you."

Ingrid bowed her head. They were words she thought she'd never hear, not in an eternity. "I...don't know what to say…"

"Then let's change the subject. We have some things to talk about. Come on, get up off the grass and walk with me."

Helga and Ingrid helped each other to stand up. Ingrid expected their outfits to be covered in dirt and blades of grass, but neither Helga's gown nor hers was marred in any way. When they were standing Helga crooked her arm for Ingrid to put her hand in, and soon they were strolling aimlessly around the clearing.

"So what shall we talk about?" Ingrid asked.

"Redemption," Helga said.

"I assume you mean my redemption," Ingrid said.

"I meant in general, but we can talk about yours if you'd like…"

"It's just...I know I have a lot to answer for…"

"But calling your spell upon yourself before it completely destroyed Storybrooke was a good start. You've already taken your first steps on the road to redemption, and they were big steps. You're here now so I can get you going the rest of the way."

"Just you, though?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was hoping I'd see both you and Gerda."

"Oh...well, Gerda must walk her own road."

"What does that mean?"

"She's on her own road to redemption."

"What...Gerda!? Are you kidding? What does she need to be redeemed for!? She's always been an innocent!"

"She locked you in a magical urn."

"How is that nearly as bad as what I did to you? She thought she was doing the right thing…"

"But in the process she did something that many find unforgivable...she broke a _promise_ , her promise to always stand by you."

"But I forgive her! I understand why she did it…"

"As I forgave and understood you, but often the feelings of the injured party are not enough for full redemption...and you both understand that."

Ingrid sighed. "So we both have no choice but to walk our roads…"

"But you're both farther along than you think."

"Does that mean we'll never see each other again?"

"On the contrary. Once you've done everything you need to do to be fully redeemed, you will meet each other at the end, and never be seperated again. Your destinies are intertwined."

"Wait...does that mean you won't be with us?"

"I'll always be with you in one way or another, but my destiny is different from yours."

"I think I'm a little confused…"

"Then let's focus on your redemption."

"Right. What else do I have to do?"

"That's the really interesting part. You get to make a choice."

"A choice?"

"Yes. Right now, you still have your powers. If you choose, you can stay in the after-realm and fully take on the mantle of the mythical Snow Queen, using your powers in whatever way you can to help those in need. You will always be mistaken for good fortune, or an answer to a prayer, but in this way you can make amends to those you've hurt by helping so many more people."

"That sounds beautiful. What's my other choice?"

Helga stopped their walk and turned to look Ingrid squarely in the eye. "I know that deep down you've always wanted to live a normal life, one without the complications of royalty or your powers. If you choose, you may do so. You will be stripped of your powers and returned to the mortal world in the Realm Without Magic to live out your days naturally. If you live a good life, helping others in whatever way you can, whenever you can, your road to redemption will be longer, but you will reach the end eventually, and the outcome will be the same."

"I'll see Gerda again?"

"And you two will never be driven apart again."

Ingrid looked away to think about it, then turned back. "So, you're saying I could stay here and be the goddess of winter, or I could get resurrected and go back to making a living in the non-magical world?"

"Essentially, yes."

Ingrid was shocked. "Do people get offered that kind of choice all the time?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"How many people actually choose to be mortal?"

"You'd be surprised."

"I'll bet." She thought about it some more. "How will I know I'm fully redeemed?"

"You'll see Gerda again. That's your reward."

"But if I'm mortal and she's not...will I have to die all over again?"

Helga actually shrugged. "I don't know. I was told to give you your choice and tell you what to expect when you suceeded. I wasn't told how it would work."

"So there are higher powers at work here…"

"Always are…"

Ingrid turned away to contemplate it more. "I think I could live a good life as a normal person…"

"Want to try?"

Ingrid turned back to her and smiled. "Okay, yes. I want to try. What do I do?"

Helga smiled and said, "Take my hands."

Ingrid complied and felt a rush of energy enter her body through her fingertips as they brushed Helga's hands. The sensation made her close her eyes and brace herself.

When she opened them again Helga was gone and the grassy field was gone and Ingrid found herself standing on the corner of a busy city street. She couldn't tell what city. She'd been in a few since her first arrival in this world, but this one didn't look familiar at all. Still, all cities had a few things in common. All she had to do was find someplace that sold newspapers. One look at the top of the front page would tell her what she wanted to know.

She picked a direction at random and started walking, looking for a newsstand or convenience store. She'd only walked about one block before she realized that she was getting more than the usual number of stares, then she realized she was still in her Snow Queen ensemble, which was all lace and decolletage, white, tight and busty. She blushed at the thought of how ridiculous she must have looked, but she kept going. One problem at a time.

After another two blocks she found a deli and darted inside. The newspaper rack just inside the door was almost empty, but the one paper left told her everything with its title:

 **THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES**

"So...Chicago…" Ingrid muttered. "Okay...never been…" She was starting to think about finding someplace to stay when she looked at the date on the paper:

 **May 20, 2003**

"2003!?" She said aloud. "The _hell_?" It took a moment for her to get it. Whatever spell had been used to send her back to the Realm Without Magic must also have sent her back in time. Why? Maybe she needed that time to fully redeem herself. This was The Powers That Be giving her a head start along with a new life.

Okay, but the problem was that somewhere in the state of Maine, the younger version of herself going by the name Sarah Fisher was only two years into her vigil in Storybrooke. It would be years yet before Emma's arrival and years more before Elsa's. Could two Ingrids be in the same country at the same time living two different lives without the world exploding?

Well, sure, but one of them would have to be creative about it, and that one would have to be her. Sarah Fisher had to live out the next decade exactly the way she'd lived it before, or it might change the end result and force her to go through everything all over again. Thing was, Ingrid had to cause a little disruption in Sarah's life, because she was stuck in Chicago with no shelter, no normal clothes and no cash, and the only way she had to immediately solve those problems was to access Sarah Fisher's accounts. Doing so without adequate warning could cause problems for both her selves.

She knew what she wanted to do, but was worried she wouldn't be able to until she remembered it was only 2003. It was likely that pay phones hadn't been completely eradicated in Chicago yet. In fact, after looking around the old deli she found one near the bathrooms. She went over and used two fingers to exract her ATM/Debit card from the left cup of her bustier (after a year in Storybrooke, she'd vowed never to leave home without some non-magical way to pay for things). Armed with plastic, she used it to pay for a long distance phone call. She waited patiently for the phone on the other end to ring three times before a familiar voice answered.

"Any Given Sundae," Sarah Fisher said, "How can we help you?"

"You can answer a question," Ingrid said. "Does my voice sound familiar to you?"

A few seconds of silence, then: "You sound like someone trying very hard to imitate my voice on the phone."

"Would you believe I am you?"

"No. It's not a perfect imitation."

"Well, I am a little older. I'm you from the future."

"Of course you are...is this someone in town playing a magical gag?"

"Who in town would have the ability to play a gag like this?"

"Either Regina or Gold, of course."

"There, you see? There's nothing in it for Gold and Regina doesn't have a sense of humor. It's not either of them playing a gag."

"That doesn't mean it's nobody in this town…"

"Your store phone has caller ID. Go check the display."

"All right...and what am I looking for?"

"See the area code? That's not Storybrooke. That's Chicago."

Sarah huffed. "It's a glamour. I can create glamours."

"You'll see it's not a glamour when you get your next bank statement. There'll be a call charge for a number in Chicago on it."

"Nice try, but I have my bank card in my pocket. Okay? Now it's in my hand…"

Ingrid immediately held up her card and read off the number.

More silence, then, "So you're an identity thief. Of course you know my card number. Kind of bold of you to make a phone call to your victim…"

"I'm not a thief. It's my identity, too. The whole point of me calling you was to see if I could use it without being called a thief."

"Not doing a great job so far. You still have to convince me."

Ingrid sighed. "I know what you're planning."

Sarah scoffed. "What makes you think I'm planning anything?"

"Emma will arrive in 2011. Elsa will arrive in 2014. That's the year you'll finally be able to set things in motion. Gold still has the ribbons. You'll be able to make a deal for them."

Now a long silence, and then, "Will it work?"

Ingrid had to be careful. She couldn't tell the whole truth for a host of reasons, but mainly because she couldn't risk her younger self changing her plans. Finally she said, "You want to feel sisterly love again. You will."

"You're sure?"

"I've lived it. Be patient and steadfast and it will happen." _Not in the way you think it will, not at all, but it will happen._

One more pause, just a bit more hesitation, then, "All right, just don't clean me out. Granny's sucks up all the food business around here."

"I remember well. I won't need much. Thank you for understanding, and I promise there are better times ahead for you."

"I'll hold you to that." She hung up.

Ingrid hung up and felt relieved. Now that her younger self wouldn't panic and call the FBI on her she could get herself squared away. The next order of business was a change of clothes, so she left the diner and went looking for a women's apparel shop…

* * *

Anna was wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "You talked to _yourself_ on the phone thing!? That is so cool!"

Ingrid smiled. "The coolest part was that I had no memory of the call before I made it, but afterwards I remembered vivdly being in my old shop at around lunchtime and receiving a call from myself as if it had always happened!"

"Whoa! Mind _officially_ blown!" Anna said, duly impressed.

Elsa had a different impression of the story. "You cheated…" she muttered.

"What was that?" Ingrid said.

Elsa looked exasperated. "Well, I don't know if 'cheated' is the right word, but I can't think of another. You…" She looked at Ingrid squarely. "You _cheated_!"

Ingrid calmly took another sip of chocolate and said, "How, exactly?"

"If you remembered the call from yourself in 2003, then you must have remembered it as well on the day you cast the Shattered Sight spell!"

"True…"

"Well then you must have known that you would survive sacrificing yourself to reverse the spell, so it wasn't really a sacrifice! You cheated!"

Ingrid thought about it a minute, then said, "Well, at first I didn't _really_ know what happened to send my future self back in time. I had just convinced myself that my plans would work, so at the time I was thinking either you and Emma would somehow rebel and send me back or I would spring some kind of cosmic Storybrooke trap and end up in 2003 Chicago before I could set things in motion. But, then 2014 came and everything got started, and then things didn't go as planned, and, well, you were there. I didn't really think I would survive reversing the spell until the moment I decided to reverse it. That was the moment what I'd told myself in the phone call really hit me." Wicked smile. "So yeah, I kinda cheated."

Anna was even more stunned. "Sneaky _and_ scary!"

Elsa smirked. "Now _that_ is the Ingrid we know best."

"Guilty as charged," Ingrid said. "Now then...enough about me. It's your turn. Why are you here in my home listening to my life story when you should be back in Arendelle?"

Elsa and Anna looked at each other again, then Anna sighed and said, "Okay, but I don't think our story is as amazing as yours." Still, she told it all from the beginning, including the bivouac ghost stories, the ride to the Western Plateau, chasing their mother's ghost, the blinding light and ending up in the snow during the storm. "You know the rest. That's it. We don't know why we're here at all."

Ingrid had a thoughtful look on her face as she listened, and she didn't say anything for a moment afterward, then, "You got to see Gerda?"

Elsa nodded. "Yes. We're sure it was her."

"Was she beautiful?"

"Yes!" Anna said. "She was all glowy and shimmery and beautiful, and she sang to us!"

That made Ingrid smile wide. "Then you're wrong, sweetheart," she said to Anna. "I think that makes your story much more amazing than mine." She took a moment to keep from losing her composure, then said, "Okay, enough stories. Now it's time for _lessons_!"

"Lessons?" Elsa said.

"Like school lessons?" Anna said.

"Exactly," Ingrid said as she stood up. "You're here now, and we don't know how long you'll be here, so today I want to teach you as much as I can about living in this world." With that she headed toward the stairs.

"Is that really necessary?" Elsa asked.

Ingrid stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "It's vital. We're not in Storybrooke right now, so if we have to go out I don't want any nieces of mine to look and act like they just escaped from a renaissance fair. Just let me get my tablet." Ingrid continued up the stairs.

Elsa and Anna sat quietly for moment, waiting for Ingrid to come back, then Anna asked, "What's a renaissance fair?"

Elsa shrugged. "Maybe Ingrid will tell us in one of her lessons."

 **TBC...**


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

* * *

 **REVIEW RESPONSES:**

Guest: I did it that way because the situation I wanted Ingrid to be in in Chicago wouldn't be possible after only one year removed from Season Four, so I time-travelled her some extra years.

Nissan: Of course they'll meet new characters, but Ingrid's going to keep her nieces to herself for a while longer.

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

Ingrid came back downstairs a minute later with a black rectangular object in her hand. When she sat down on the sofa again Anna scrutinized it. "That doesn't look like a tablet!" She said.

"Of course it's a tablet," Ingrid said. "What else does it look like?"

Anna crossed her arms. "If that's a tablet, then where's the chalk?" She asked triumphantly.

Ingrid just looked confused for a second, then she pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "Anna, it's not that kind of tablet. No one has used that kind of tablet in a hundred years. This is a computer, which is just named after tablets because it's relatively the same size and shape."

Now Elsa chimed in. "So it's another magic mirror…" she said.

"...that's _not_ a magic mirror!" Anna finished.

Now Ingrid did a facepalm and muttered "Oh, God, so much work to do…" before saying clearly to them, "Yes, that's exactly right. It's a magic mirror that's not a magic mirror, like my phone, and the display in the car, and" - she pointed to the big black mirror mounted on the wall by the sofas - "my television set. They're all technology that does what magic mirrors do but aren't magic mirrors, and I'm going to use the tablet and the TV to teach you about the world. Okay?"

Elsa and Anna looked at Ingrid, then each other, then back at Ingrid as Anna raised her hand high.

Ingrid pursed her lips and said, "Yes, Anna?"

Anna dropped her hand. "Can we have tablets too?" Both girls grinned like five-year-olds asking for candy.

Ingrid frowned. "If you're here long enough...and I'm reasonably sure you won't ruin something that expensive by writing on it with chalk. Now may we please get on with it?"

The girls nodded, then leaned toward each other and giggled girlishly at whatever little joke they'd had at Ingrid's expense. Ingrid just rolled her eyes and turned on the tablet, then searched the cushions in the couch she was sitting on for the remote. She found it a moment later and aimed it at the TV.

Both girls gasped when they saw Ingrid aim the hourglass-shaped device at the television. "The big mirror-not-mirror has a number box," Elsa said, "just like the doors!"

Anna raised her hand again. "Yes, Anna?" Ingrid said.

Anna dropped her hand. "Does everything in this realm have a number box? Are they all hidden? Do we have to have our own number boxes before we can have our own tablets?"

Ingrid pinched the bridge of her nose again. "Respectively, No, No, and No. Could we?"

The girls settled down with a quiet, "Yes, Aunt Ingrid," but shared a furtive smile as Ingrid turned on the television and searched for the right app on her computer. When she found it, she linked the devices so that the TV would display what the tablet showed. Now she was ready to begin.

And Anna's hand went up again. "Yes, Anna?" Ingrid sighed.

Anna dropped her hand and asked, "Where are the ten windows? Are they in the big mirror-not-mirror?"

Ingrid was utterly confused...until she glanced at the TV and saw "Windows 10" displayed prominently above the icons on the screen. She moaned a little, then turned to Anna. "Sweetie, could you give me a chance to actually show you something relevant before you ask any more questions?"

"Yes, Aunt Ingrid," Anna said sheepishly, then she and Elsa shrugged at each other before giving Ingrid their full attention.

Ingrid used the tablet to call up a road map and display it on the TV screen. With that her lessons began. "All right. The most important thing you need to know when you find yourself in a strange place is exactly where you are, so that you're not lost anymore, naturally, but also to give yourself a starting point for finding your way back home. You are here," - she pointed at the TV - "in a place known as the Chicago Metropolitan Area, which consists of the city of Chicago and several smaller suburban areas along the shore of this lake, which is called Lake Michigan. We're in the suburban area called Evanston." Anna raised her hand again. "Anna?"

"So, this land is called the Land of Chicago?" Anna said.

Ingrid shrugged. "Well, it is unofficially known as 'Chicagoland,' but Evanston and Chicago are both cities in a larger land called a state, which is called Illinois."

Elsa thought about that. "So Evanston and Chicago are settlements in the state of Illinois…" she said.

Ingrid nodded. "And Illinois is just one state among fifty, in a nation called the United States of America."

"Wow," Anna said. "That's a lot to remember! Why can't it just be simple like 'Arendelle' or 'Mysthaven?'"

"Just concentrate on what's important. All you need to know are Evanston, Illinois and Chicago, Illinois."

"Evanston, Illinois and Chicago, Illinois," The girls repeated.

Then Elsa risked an important question. "Aunt Ingrid...where is Storybrooke on this map?"

Ingrid didn't hesitate to answer. "It's not on this map. In fact, it doesn't show up on any mortal map, but…" She did something with the tablet and the map changed. When the new roadmap was up, she slipped a sewing-needle shaped object from the side of the tablet and used it to draw a circle in a seemingly random place on the screen. "I can tell you that it appears somewhere along this highway for anyone with the right revelation spell."

"That's not Illinois state…" Anna said.

"No, dear, this is the state of Maine."

"So it's the main state?"

Ingrid shook her head. "It's just a name."

"Is it far?" Elsa asked. "Could we walk there?"

"Sure…" Ingrid said, "...if you wanted to walk more than a thousand miles."

Both girls gasped and said _"A thousand miles!?"_

"One thousand, one hundred and twenty-five to be exact, and that's following the roads. The more direct path will require you to cross a couple of really big lakes."

The girls bit their lips and looked at each other, then they leaned in as Anna whispered, "I don't think we could have walked that far in the storm."

"Agreed," Elsa whispered back, then they straightened up and turned their attention back to Ingrid.

"So, any more questions about where you are, or Storybrooke?" Ingrid said. Anna raised her hand again. "Sweetie, you don't have to keep raising your hand. Just ask me."

She put her hand down. "Sorry...if Chicago has millions of people, and it's part of a bigger state, and that's one state in fifty, then how many people are in the whole land of the United States?"

Ingrid blinked. "I don't know offhand. Let me check." She did something with the tablet again until the image on the TV changed from the map of Maine state to an image labeled "U.S. Census Bureau." "Here we go," Ingrid said. She made the image expand and pointed to something labeled "Population Clock." The girls looked at the number labeled "U.S. Population."

"That can't be right!" Anna said.

"Why can't it be?" Ingrid said.

"That's over three hundred million people!" Elsa said.

"How big is this place?" Anna added.

"It spans nine time zones across this continent," Ingrid said. "In fact, there's one state that spans four time zones all by itself."

"How can any one nation's populace grow so large?" Elsa said.

Ingrid shrugged. "The usual ways. Time, room to expand, and of course people in this realm enjoy making babies the same way they do in any other realm."

Both girls blushed at that last statement. "Aunt Ingrid!" Anna said, embarrassed.

Ingrid smiled and said, "Okay, any other questions about where you are?" The girls shook their heads. "Good. Okay, so the next important thing you need to know is…"

"Where the _privvies_ are!" Anna interjected, sending both girls into another fit of giggling.

Ingrid just smiled and sighed and waited for the laughter to die down some before continuing. "Yes, absolutely...when you gotta go it's important to know where you can go, so what you do is ask for the bathroom or a rest room, because everyone knows that's what you're really looking for, or you can just be direct and ask for a toilet. In a public place such things will be marked and seperated by gender, and sometimes you have to buy something in the public place because the proprieters can reserve their rest rooms for customers. And now that we've mentioned buying things, we can move on to the next important thing you need to know, which is the local currency." She mentally congratulated herself for changing the topic and changed the display on the screen to follow suit. The Census web page disappeared, replaced by a page with images of U.S. currency. She circled one with the needle thing and said, "This is a dollar bill. It's the basis for all United States currency. All coins are fractions of a dollar's value, all other bills are multiples of a dollar…" She stopped there because the girls had confused looks on their faces.

Anna started to raise her hand, then remembered what Ingrid said before and stopped, instead just asking, "Isn't a bill a duck's nose?"

Ingrid was taken aback by the question. "Well, the word 'bill' has more than one meaning…"

"Yes," Elsa said. "I once heard in a military briefing that it's also a type of sword. Is that it? Do they use swords for currency?"

"Or duck bills?" Anna said. "That would be cruel!"

"What are you…?" Ingrid began, then she gasped as it sunk in: Arendelle didn't use paper currency. No enchanted kingdom did. In the Land of Magic, goods and services were still paid for with gold and silver coins or just plain bartered for. That meant she couldn't just tell them about American money because they had no similar frame of reference. She had to explain the concept of paper money in general. She could...she'd learned about it herself soon after the first time she arrived here. She just didn't think Elsa and Anna would believe it. _She_ hadn't believed it the first time it was explained to her.

Oh, well. There was nothing else to do. She put her tablet down on the table and looked the girls in the eye. "Do you know what an I.O.U. is?"

Anna brightened, because that was an easy question. "Sure! It's like when you buy something from somebody and you don't have enough money in your purse and you have nothing else to trade, you ask if they'll let you pay for it the next time you see them, and they say yes, so you write a note that says "I owe you such-and-such and this-and-that" for them to keep and they can use it to ask for the payment later. It's a promisory note."

"Yes, Exactly," Ingrid said. "You use a promisory note in place of the currency. Well, in this land money used to be the same as back home: coins made of gold and silver, gems and other jewelry, etc., and of course there were times when you needed to leave a promisory note instead of money, okay? Here, though, as populations grew and the availabitity of rare-metal coins fell off, people exchanged more and more promisory notes and paid those notes off less often, until the promisory notes themselves became a currency all on their own.

"Well, of course, Governments didn't like that, because all governments of any type like to control the money within its borders, so eventually they said to their peoples, 'Look, why don't you give us all those promisory notes and we'll issue new notes back to you through banks, and those notes can be used as currency without being paid off with coin, so instead of promises you have actual money, in the form of bank notes."

"Bank notes?" Elsa said.

"Yes. That's a bill's official name, or in the case of U.S. currency, Federal Reserve Notes."

Elsa and Anna looked incredulous. "But why can't they just make enough gold and silver coins for everybody?" Anna asked.

"Well, the whole point of a precious metal is that it's rare, Anna, and it's hard to get out of the ground, so you couldn't make enough rare-metal coins to keep up with demand. Modern coins are all made out of less expensive and more abundant metals."

The girls took a moment to let that sink in. "So dollar bills are made of paper?" Elsa said.

"Well, paper-thin fabric in this case, but yes."

Elsa and Anna looked at each other, then turned to Ingrid. "Are you saying," Elsa said, "that the entire economy and trade of a nation of three hundred million people…"

"...is based on _I.O.U. notes with fancy designs and worthless metal coins!?"_ Anna finished.

Ingrid sat back and let that sink in, then said, "Well...when you put it that way it sounds kind of scary...but, yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And it's not just this country's economy. Every nation in the world issues some form of bank notes as currency."

"If I instituted that kind of monetary policy in Arendelle," Elsa said, "the merchants would demand My abdication!"

"Abdication?" Anna said. "Elsa, they would demand your head!"

Elsa gasped and raised a protective hand to her throat as she imagined hundreds of angry Arendelle merchants protesting outside the castle walls waving worthless paper currency.

Ingrid rolled her eyes. "Calm down, you two. Elsa, it is extremely unlikely that you'll ever be put in a position where you'd have to enact that kind of policy. Arendelle is not as big as the United States and isn't growing as fast as the U.S. has. Your reign will probably be long and prosperous and never once will you have to worry about issuing paper money. Don't fret over things that likely won't happen, okay?"

"Okay," Elsa said, only slightly convinced.

"Besides, I didn't tell you that to start a moral debate about U.S. currency. I just wanted to give you some context for it. It is what it is, so just accept it. You only need to know how it's used, right?"

"Right," Elsa said.

"Right," Anna said.

"Good." Ingrid went over the denominations of bills and coins again, then went on. "Though there are larger bills, the largest amount you're likely to see on one is twenty dollars, because twenties are the lifeblood of individual transactions. On the opposite end, pennies are prolific, but nobody really likes to spend them or accept them in payment. There's always some minor politician or activist that talks about eliminating them entirely, but nothing ever happens along those lines. Understand so far?" Both girls nodded. "Any questions?"

Anna said, "So, if we brought some crowns from Arendelle, we couldn't spend them here at all?"

"No, you'd have to exchange them for local money...although Arendelle crowns are pure gold and would be worth a lot to coin collectors here. I wish I'd thought to bring some the first time I was sent here." She shrugged. "Oh, well. Any other questions?" The girls shook their heads. "Okay, so we move on." Ingrid decided to leave discussions of credit and debit cards and electronic payments for later and changed the display on the tablet and TV to yet another map. "Okay, the next things you need to know are who you are and where you're from, because friendly strangers love to pry into your life."

Anna scoffed. "Well, of course we know who we are and where we're from! I'm Princess Anna of Arendelle and she's Elsa, Queen of Arendelle!" She smiled with a little girl's pride at reciting that, then her smile faded when she saw the look on Ingrid's face. "And I'm guessing I'm not supposed to tell people that?"

"Well you can," Ingrid said, "but then other not-so-friendly people will tackle you to the ground and take you to a dungeon with padded walls."

Anna frowned. "That sounds like a bad thing."

"It is a bad thing, so I'd like to try to avoid that while you're here."

"I was afraid of that," Elsa said. "It wouldn't be a problem in Storybrooke, but since we're not in Storybrooke we have to lie about ourselves."

"It won't be that bad!" Anna said. "When I went to find out what our parents were doing on their trip I treated it like a secret mission! I gave myself a new name and everything! It was easy!"

Elsa looked at her suspiciously. "Didn't you say Emma's father was the first person you met on this secret mission?"

"Yes."

"And didn't he say he knew who you were the whole time?"

Anna winced a little, and said sheepishly, "He's...very perceptive?"

Ingrid chimed in then. "Don't worry. Nobody has to change her name...at least not much. And Anna's right, Elsa. It will be easy, because you're not going to lie about everything. There are some things that you can tell the truth about. You're sisters. That's true. You're my nieces. That's also true. You're visiting me from our homeland. Absolutely true. We just don't want to say how you actually got here or where our homeland actually is. The idea is to present who we are and where we're from in terms that won't send the people we're talking to off screaming for the ambulance to the funny farm."

"Let me guess," Anna said. "A funny farm isn't actually funny?"

"It's another name for the padded dungeon."

"Got it."

"Very well," Elsa said, "then who are we and where do we come from?"

"Soon after I was resurrected I had my name legally changed to 'Ingrid Arendelle', mainly to distinguish myself from 'Sarah Fisher' who was still living a life in Storybrooke. So as long as you're here and since you're my nieces, you can call yourselves Elsa and Anna Arendelle, which is true in a royal sense. Our nation is our family name."

"So I'm Anna Arendelle," Anna said.

"And I'm Elsa Arendelle," Elsa said. "I think that's agreeable."

"It's fun!" Anna said. "It's true, but still sneaky!"

"Exactly!" Ingrid said. "Now, as to where we're from, that took some imagination. I never wanted to say I was born somewhere in this country, because I learned the hard way how small a nation with this many people in it can actually be. It's amazing. You say you're from a place and think you'll never meet anyone from there, and two days later someone will tell you 'Oh, I was born in a town near there! Do you know such and such and so and so?' It's easier to say you're an immigrant, and in our odd cases that's also a truth you can tell. So I had to pick another country in this realm to be my homeland. Fortunately, I had access to a tool in 2003 that nobody had when I first arrived: the internet. I've been using it to show you the things I've been showing you on the TV. You type a search word onto a line, and a smart machine will try to find information for you. In this case, I needed it to find a homeland for me, something like Arendelle, so on a whim I typed 'Arendelle' into the search." She pointed to the TV. "This is what it found."

The girls looked...and Anna gasped. "You found Arendelle! Elsa, she found Arendelle!"

"Aren _dal_ ," Ingrid corrected. "'Doll', not 'Dell', dear, but it is the closest match to Arendelle in this realm. It's a small village surrounded by water that made its fortunes through shipping and trade. It's on the southern end of a country known as Norway. It's perfect. It's people and history are near duplicates of ours. There are some siginificant differences, but the important thing is it's close enough to our home that it can stand in for Arendelle without the need for a lot of deception. So...since I became Ingrid Arendelle, I tell people that I was born in Arendal, Norway and emigrated to the states in my early twenties."

Elsa and Anna thought about it for a minute, then Elsa said, "So, I tell people my name is Elsa Arendelle, and I'm visiting my Aunt Ingrid from our home in Arendal, Norway. Is that right?"

Ingrid smiled wide. "Perfect! You see, Elsa, you don't have to lie about everything because that wouldn't work anyway. The best story is one that blends as much truth as you can spare with the right amount of falsehood."

"Wow," Anna said, "you're really good at being sneaky!"

Ingrid smirked and shrugged. "Evil Snow Queen, remember? I've had a lot of practice."

Anna nodded. "I remember!"

"Good. Now tell me who you are and where you're from."

Anna sat up straight and recited, "My name is Anna Arendelle and I'm from Arendal, Norway, and I'm visiting my Aunt Ingrid in Evanston, Illinois!"

Ingrid and Elsa both grinned and clapped and Anna took graceful bows that left them all giggling. When they recovered, Ingrid said, "Anna's got the right idea. Treat it like a play. Some of it is about your life, but some is made up, and you're the author, so you get to decide which is which. Right?"

"Right!" The girls said.

"Good. Now, let's put our mugs in the sink and we'll talk about some more stuff while we get cleaned up."

A few minutes later they were in the bathroom taking turns in the shower, and while there Ingrid explained to them the concept of indoor plumbing (and thus answered Anna's earlier question about privvies in bathing rooms.) Afterward they dressed in more of Ingrid's nightshirts and Ingrid explained hand dryers as they all blow-dried and brushed their hair. Then they took their laundry down to the laundry room off the kitchen and Ingrid told them about washers and dryers as she washed the used nightshirts, bedclothes and the girls' Arendelle clothes. For lunch Ingrid served tomato soup and vegetable salad, and while they ate at the breakfast nook she explained the devices in the kitchen and how they worked. Elsa was especially fascinated by the cold cupboard - the refrigerator - because it was a machine designed to do what she did with her powers. After lunch, Ingrid made fresh hot chocolate and they returned to the living room so she could explain the two things that made all her machines work: electricity and computers.

"Electricity is lightning," she said. "A long time ago two very smart men in this realm, Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla, invented machines that generate lightning here on Earth, and more machines that can send that lightning to people's homes for them to use in devices with engines and machinery inside. You either keep the machines hooked into a port called an 'outlet' and give it direct access to the lightning, or you siphon that lightning into something called a battery, which is basically lightning in a bottle. The lights, the TV and all my household devices are plugged in to outlets that give them the electricity. My phone and tablet have batteries that I add electricity to every night when I'm asleep."

"Does your car use lightning - electricity - as well, Aunt Ingrid?" Elsa asked.

"Yes. It has both a battery and a generator. The battery is used to power anything electrical when the engine is turned off and to start the engine. Once the engine is on, it generates electricity on its own."

"Do you think we could ever have electricity in Arendelle?" Anna asked.

"Anything's possible. It didn't always exist in this realm. Someone has to think about it and develop it."

"I wonder what would happen if we brought a lightning machine-"

"Generator," Ingrid corrected.

"Right...a _generator_ back to Arendelle?"

"You could do that easily. They sell portable generators. I have one in the garage I'd be happy to let you take back...but you'd have no use for it without taking a bunch of other things with you, and it would take ages for you to wire the country for electricity. Then of course there would be the culture shock of it…"

That made Elsa think of Coronation Day, and how the crowds reacted when she revealed her powers for the first time. What if she and Anna were to return to Arendelle and proclaim "Now we can use this to make lightning!" That image of protestors outside the castle walls dogged her again.

"Maybe we shouldn't try to change the kingdom too rapidly," Elsa said to Anna.

Anna shrugged. "Just thinking out loud."

"No harm in that. Anyway, computers are a little harder to explain, but they are essentially this. Picture an adding machine that performs a task by solving a mathematical problem. The greater the task to be done, the more complex the problem and the more complex an adding machine you need to solve it. Modern computers are adding machines so complex that they can solve problems that will let them run all kinds of machines, including pretty much everything in this house that uses electricity. There are better explanations than that, but that's the best I can provide given the technology you're used to."

"So…" Anna said, "all your not-magic-mirrors and stuff have super-complex adding machines in them?"

"Yep. Every one has some sort of computer enhancement to it."

"Even your tablet?"

"The tablet itself is a super-complex adding machine. It's an actual computer."

"So can we have computers in Arendelle?"

"Not before you have electricity. Even if you took a bunch of tablets back with you they'd run out of power in a few hours and you'd have no way to recharge them. Also, most things you would do with modern computers require external technology you wouldn't have, like cell towers and satellites."

"A satelite?" Elsa said. "Like the moon?"

Ingrid shook her head. "Something man-made, machines about the size of a large driving machine packed with computers and fired into the sky with giant rockets."

Elsa and Anna just stared blankly.

Ingrid sighed and held up the tablet. "Girls, this device and the other things are just the latest in a long string of developments that mark this nation's technological progress over the course of about seventy years, from the time when the very first modern computer gave its first answer to the first problem posed to it. You wouldn't be able to just take it back and use it in Arendelle. Arendelle has to mature to the point where the technology would be useful to it."

Elsa thought about that. "Any sufficiently advanced technology would seem like magic...but it's not magic. Just more advanced machines than what we have at home."

Ingrid smiled. "Now you're getting it."

Anna thought harder about it, mouth all twisted up with some deep problem, then she asked seriously, "Could we at least find a way to put a flushing privy in the castle? 'Cause that would really be awesome!"

Elsa and Ingrid burst out laughing, and Anna smiled, though she really was interested in the idea. After she recovered, Ingrid said, "Actually, dear, you're more likely to have flushing privvies in everyone's homes before you have electricity."

"Small steps to progress, Anna," Elsa said. "Today we flush, tomorrow we have magic tablets!" This proclamation got everybody laughing.

When they'd all settled down, Ingrid asked, "Okay, any other questions about electricity or computers?"

Anna pointed at the television and said, "Yeah...what does this big thing do? Is it just to show stuff from the tablet?"

Ingrid looked at the TV and muttered, "Huh. You've been staring at the thing all day and I never bothered to explain a TV to you…" She went on in normal voice. "The main purpose of this big thing is to entertain you, Anna. You sit down like we are now and watch it."

"Watch it do what?" Anna said.

"You watch what's on the screen. It shows you plays; dramas, comedies, heroic sagas…"

"Sporting events?" Elsa said.

"Yes," Ingrid said, "and it also tells you the news of the day from around the world."

"Can it show the sporting teams that you talked about this morning?" Elsa said.

"Of course. In fact…" She checked the time on her tablet. "...I think the Bears are playing now." She turned off the app she was using and used the remote to switch the TV to the network that showed NFC games. Sure enough, there was a game on. The Chicago Bears were in Charlotte, North Carolina playing the Panthers.

When she heard who was playing Anna gasped. "Elsa! More animals!"

Elsa nodded thoughtfully. "I believe the animals are considered good luck totems, and the teams call themselves those names to invoke themselves with their power. Also, the mental image of bears battling panthers is striking. Am I right, Aunt Ingrid?"

"Actually, dear," Ingrid said, "I think you're putting way more thought into their names than most people do. It's just men in uniforms playing a game. They have to call themselves something."

Elsa nodded and she and Anna went back to watching the action on the screen. Anna was confused. "Is this Rugby? If this is Rugby they're doing it wrong."

"It's derived from Rugby," Ingrid said. "It's official names are 'Rugby Football' or 'American Football."

Anna half-heard. "See! He threw the ball forward! You're not allowed to do that!"

"Not in Rugby, no. In American Football that's mainly how you score."

"Really?"

"Really. Keep watching."

The girls watched as the Panthers drove downfield until getting stopped in the red zone by Chicago's defense. On fourth and goal Carolina brought on the kicking team and scored a field goal, increasing their lead by another three points.

"Wow," Anna said. "That was so violent! Every time they lined up like that they just smooshed into each other!"

"Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said, super-curious, "are the Black Hawks playing now?"

"Let me check." Ingrid went back to her tablet and looked up the team schedule. "No, they play tomorrow night. But, I have one of their games DVR'd."

"Dee-vee…?"

"It's recorded so I can watch it whenever I want. I can show you on my tablet. Come over here."

Elsa got up and came over to Ingrid's couch while Ingrid touched some more contacts on her computer. While that was going on Anna's gaze was transfixed on the TV screen. At one point she pointed and said. "Is this a play, Aunt Ingrid?"

Ingrid glanced at the screen. "Kind of. That's a commercial. It's a play that tries to make you buy something."

"With paper money and cheap coins?"

"Yep...and since that's a car commercial it will cost you a _lot_ of paper money and cheap coins."

"Driving machines are expensive?" Elsa asked.

"Oh, yes. Most people pay for them in installments. Leasing is another form of promisory notes...here we go!" She showed Elsa the computer display. "This is ice hockey."

Ingrid handed Elsa the tablet and Elsa watched as the Chicago Blackhawks and the New York Rangers skated onto the ice. She marveled at how bulky the players were. "They're wearing armor under they're tunics."

"Jerseys, Elsa, and yes. They wear the padding for protection from injury just like in football."

Speaking of, Anna yelled "Whoa!" as something happened on TV. She turned to the others and said, "Like five Bears just landed on the Panther guy with the oval ball!"

Ingrid glanced at the screen and smiled. "That's called a sack. That's what happens when the guy with the oval ball is also the guy who tells the others what to do on the field."

Anna was confused again. "But they didn't put him in a sack."

"They don't have to. It's just what they call it."

Elsa watched the tablet screen patiently as the opening ceremonies at the Rangers-Blackhawks game went on and concluded, then watched with anticipation as the teams' centers met at the center of the ice for the opening face off. Elsa's breath caught when the referee dropped the puck and the men used their sticks to fight for it. The Blackhawk man won the strange duel and skated toward the opposing goal while moving the puck along with the stick. It seemed like all the men on the ice field skated after him, and he tried to keep the puck moving to only his teammates while the Rangers from New York tried to take it away. At one point a Blackhawk tried to knock the puck into a net barrier with a mighty swing of his stick, but the Ranger man standing in the barrier caught it in his glove.

Elsa was immediately hooked. "Do they play like this the whole game?"

"Like this?" Ingrid said. "No, they're just getting warmed up. It gets really serious later on. They haven't even played long enough for a good fight to break out yet."

"They fight each other?" Elsa said, just as she watched a Blackhawk get body checked into the wall during the next play. "Oh my goodness! Did you see that? Are they allowed to do that?"

"Perfectly legal move," Ingrid said.

"Oh, no!" Anna said. "Aunt Ingrid! They're carrying one of the Bears off the field on the back of a little driving machine!"

"Was he hurt?"

"He was carrying the oval ball, and he tried to jump over a Panther guy, but the Panther guy flipped him like a crepe suzette!"

Ingrid chuckled a little. "I think you have a future in color commentary, Anna. Was the guy sitting up or lying down when they took him away?"

"Sitting up. Why."

"Then he should be fine. He may not be able to play the rest of this game but he'll probably be back next week." Then she heard sirens and horns coming from the tablet and turned to see what happened.

Elsa filled her in. "One of the New York men knocked the clay thing into the net a Black Hawk was guarding. Is that bad?"

"Since that means the Rangers are beating the Blackhawks at the moment, yes, it's very bad."

"They skate so fast, but with such precision! How do they do that?"

"Practice. Most of them have been playing hockey since they were young boys. That's when they learned all the fundamentals, including how to skate on ice."

For the next thirty minutes the girls watched their respective sporting events with rapt attention, waiting for commercials to ply Ingrid with questions about what they were seeing. Ingrid tried her best to answer them all. She knew a great deal about ice hockey and American Football, two of her favorite sports and two things she absolutely loved about this world.

During a commercial break, Anna declared, "This is so much fun! I've never seen any kind of sporting event like this! I want to see something else!" She turned to Ingrid and stretched out her nightshirt. "Aunt Ingrid! Is this an animal from another American Football club? Or do they play another game entirely? What kind of game is it? Can we watch some of it?"

Ingrid remembered just grabbing three clean nightshirts at random before they showered earlier, so she hadn't been clear on which one she'd given each girl. Now she saw which one Anna was wearing clearly. "No, dear...that's not a team emblem."

Anna looked down. "No? But it's an animal. It's kind of a strange looking animal…"

"It's a mouse."

"Really? It kind of looks like one but I've never seen one with eyes that wide and ears that round…"

"It's stylized. It's used as the mascot for a company that makes entertainment for the TV. They call him 'Mickey.'"

"Oh," Anna said, nodding in understanding. "Then what about yours? Are the Avengers a sports team?"

Ingrid looked down at her shirt and smiled at the "Marvel's The Avengers" logo before answering. "No, they're a heroic team. They're part of an entertainment the Mickey company makes called a movie."

"What about mine, Aunt Ingrid?" Elsa said. "The design is so abstract I didn't know what to make of it."

Ingrid looked at the one Elsa was wearing and was immediately at a loss for words, because it was her R2-D2 nightshirt, the one that turned the hatches and dials in the droid's front into a decorative pattern. "That one is hard to explain," she finally said. "It's part of a movie, too. It's something you'd have to see for yourself to understand."

"Can I see it? I'd like to see this movie."

"I want to see it, too!" Anna said.

"Okay, I'll show you." She took the tablet back from Elsa and linked it with the TV again.

"Bye, football," Anna said.

"There'll be more football to watch later this evening," Ingrid said, "and the hockey game's recorded, Elsa, so you can pick up right where you left off." She stopped what she was doing for a moment to look at the girls and ask, "By the way...do you know anything about stars and planets?"

"Oh, sure!" Anna said. "We learned all about them in class!"

"We were taught about them by the Royal Astronomer," Elsa said proudly.

"Good enough. I only ask because in order for you to follow this movie, you have to believe people are on the planets, and they can sail to other planets in ships with rockets in them."

Elsa and Anna looked at her, then at each other, then back at Ingrid. "Okay," Anna said, "if you say so."

"All right," Ingrid said, then she smiled as she went into a streaming app and started one of her favorite movies of all time.

The girls looked at the TV screen as it went totally dark for a second, then the words "20th Century Fox," arranged like a giant gold monument, filled the screen along with symphony music, then the monument disappeared and was replaced by a strange word - "Lucasfilm" - which turned from led to gold before their eyes.

Then words written in blue appeared. "It's a historical piece!" Anna declared as she read the words _A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…_

Then more symphony music blared, and the words "STAR WARS" filled the screen and backed away to reveal a starry night, then more text rose up the screen, declaring this to be "Epsiode IV: A New Hope."

"It's like reading a book," Elsa declared as she read about civil war, the galactic empire, rebels and something called a "Death Star."

"But starting in the middle," Ingrid said. "This is just one of seven movies in a series, but it was the first released to the public."

After the reading was done, the girls watched in awe as the rebel blockade runner flew into frame while being fired upon by the Imperial Star Destroyer that filled the screen seconds later. "That little baby flying ship is in trouble!" Anna said. Her fears were confirmed when the blockade runner exploded from a high impact.

Then they were inside the blockade runner and seeing uniformed men running one way while strange beings came toward them. "What are they?" Elsa asked.

"Mechanical servants called 'droids,'" Ingrid said. "That little one is what your shirt is patterned after."

Elsa looked at R2-D2 and her nightshirt and back at R2-D2 again. She smiled. "That's very clever!"

Now Anna gasped as the blockade runner was sucked into the destroyer's belly. "The big one eats little ones!"

"That's just how they board other ships," Ingrid said.

Sure enough, now they were inside the blockade runner and men with strange weapons waited at the hatch. Then fire burned the hatch open and in walked men with more strange weapons and white armor, and both sides began to fire bolts of light at each other. At first it seemed both sides were evenly matched, but eventually the uniformed men had to break ranks and retreat as men in white armor stormed in. Soon, the uniformed men were completely defeated, and a heavy-breathing knight all in black walked in to survey the carnage.

"He's scary!" Anna said, clutching a throw pillow. "I bet he's super-evil!"

"He is indeed," Ingrid said with a smile. She enjoyed experiencing the movie through the girls' eyes.

"Does he have magic too?" Elsa asked.

"Yes. It's a magic called the Force."

More views of the mechanical servants, including a scene where a beautiful woman in a flowing gown was talking to the one from Elsa's shirt. "Is she the princess?" Elsa said.

"Yes," Ingrid said, "She's Princess Leia."

"She's a star princess!" Anna said. "I wonder what it's like to be a star princess?"

"For her, it's exciting," Ingrid said, "...and dangerous."

"Then it's a perfect job for you, Anna." Elsa said. It made the girls giggle again.

Then the Black Knight was back on the screen, holding one of the uniformed men by the throat a foot off the deck. "What happened to the transmissions you intercepted?" He said in a deep, menacing voice. "What have you done with those plans?"

"We...received no transmissions…" his victim rasped. "This is a consular ship...we're on a diplomatic...mission…"

"If this is a consular ship, where is the _ambassador?!"_ The Black Knight strangled the man to death and tossed him to the deck, then turned to one of the armored men and said, "Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans, and bring me the passengers...I want them alive!"

Anna gulped. "Maybe I don't want to be a star princess if I have to fight him...he even sounds scary!"

"Don't worry." Ingrid said. "Princess Leia will show you how not to be afraid."

And she did, after the mechanical servants escaped the "little baby ship" and the armored men brought her to confront the Black Knight, whom she called "Darth Vader." Anna grinned when Princess Leia stood up to him and his scary voice, and then got worried when he sent her away, probably to some star dungeon. Anna yelled, "Yeah, you tell him!" when the other officer told Vader that holding her was dangerous, but Vader didn't listen at all.

Around the time when Owen and Luke went to buy droids from the Jawas the girls seemed to have decided to stop asking questions and just escape into the story, which, of course, was the best way to enjoy a Star Wars movie. A few minutes later Ingrid snuck into the kitchen to get dinner started. By the time she had everything cooking she ducked back in and saw Han Solo confronting Greedo. _Han Shot First_ , she thought but didn't say aloud as she sat back down.

It was when the Millennium Falcon was being tractored into the Death Star that Ingrid noticed Elsa and Anna were fidgeting in their seats and hugging their knees together. She picked up the tablet and paused the film, saying, "Go ahead, girls. I promise you won't miss anything."

"Thank you!" They both said as they jumped off the couches and ran to the stairs.

"That was close!" Anna said as they hurried upstairs. "I didn't know what to say to Aunt Ingrid!"

"What would you have said if you had waited too long?" Elsa said. "'Sorry about your couch, Aunt Ingrid?'"

"Elsa! Don't make me laugh!"

Ingrid smiled and used the time waiting to check up on her social media. She had just finished tweeting "Watching ANH with my nieces!" ten minutes later when the girls returned, blushing but more relaxed. They sat down together on the opposite couch and Elsa said, "Sorry about that. We didn't know you could stop the movie that way."

"You can pause something that's recorded," Elsa said, "and in some cases even a live broadcast, but most of the time people use commercial breaks as bathroom breaks. I learned that the hard way back when there was no such thing as digital streaming."

"Define 'the hard way," Anna said mischievoulsy.

"I mean that I almost did to someone else's couch what you almost did to mine, you little stinker!" Ingrid said with a grin and a throw pillow tossed at Anna. The girls giggled and tossed throw pillows right back at Ingrid, starting a ten-second throw pillow fight that left them all laughing. After they calmed down, Ingrid restarted the movie and the girls' attention was drawn right back in. Ingrid stayed and watched with them until the attack on the Death Star got underway, then she went into the kitchen to keep an eye on dinner and make a phone call or two.

Ingrid was getting ready to set the breakfast nook table by the time she heard the final strains of Skywalker's Theme transition into the end title theme. She was just laying out the plates when both girls called out at once, "Aunt Ingrid!"

Ingrid poked her head in. "What is it?"

Both girls pointed at the screen and Anna said, "Who are all those people?"

Ingrid relaxed. "Those are all the people who made the movie," she said. "The actors, the set designers, the stagehands...everybody."

"It said two different men played Darth Vader. Is that true?"

"Yes. There was one actor in the costume, but another actor lent him his voice."

"Why?"

"The suit actor's voice is kind of wimpy. He wouldn't have been as scary. Come on. Dinner's almost ready."

The girls took one final look at the screen full of names, then got up and hurried into the kitchen to sit down at the breakfast nook. Ingrid finished setting the table, then set out dinner, which was baked chicken cutlets, broccoli and wild rice. Once she filled everyone's plates she got out glasses and got out a 2-liter bottle of ginger ale for them to drink.

"What is this, Aunt Ingrid?" Anna said.

"It doesn't look like wine…" Elsa said.

Ingrid's eyebrow went up. "You were expecting wine?"

Elsa shrugged. "I usually have wine with dinner. It's how it's served."

"Right. Well, no wine tonight. We could have it, but I couldn't give any to Anna. She'd feel left out."

Anna bristled at that. "Wait...why can't I have wine?"

"You're too young."

"Says who?!"

"Says the state of Illinois, and I don't feel like getting arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor."

"Well, she can certainly be a delinquent sometimes…" Elsa muttered.

"Well at least I didn't demand wine like an old drunkard…" Anna shot back.

"Knock it off, you two," Ingrid commanded. "It's all right. This is ginger ale. It's bubbly like champange and made with a grain like beer, but it's sweet and there's no alcohol." She poured three glasses of it and everyone got started eating.

* * *

As they cleared the table, Ingrid said, "I hope I didn't overwhelm you with everything today. The problem is I had to teach you in a day things most people here learn as they grow up. I just want to make sure that you don't react strangely to everyday things."

"We understand, Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said. "Frankly, I'm glad you did it. Now some things I remember seeing in Storybrooke make a lot more sense."

"Always glad to provide perspective," Ingrid said. With the dishes in the washer she led the girls back into the living room. "Now, I have to get up ridiculously early tomorow morning for work, so I'm going to turn in."

"Do you want us to turn in too?" Anna asked.

"No, you can stay up." She retrieved her tablet and turned off the streaming app, then handed Anna the TV remote and showed her the power, channel and volume controls. "Watch TV and get an idea of the type of things that entertain people in this realm. In fact…" She checked the time and changed it to another station with a football game.

"Oh, cool!" Anna said. "More animals?"

"Yep," Ingrid said, "Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks. Go ahead and watch the game to the end, then see what's on other channels. Just try not to make too much noise. I have to get to sleep."

"Yes, ma'am," both girls said in unison.

"Good. Good night, then." Ingrid turned and headed for the stairs. The girls said "good night" as they sat back down on the couch to watch men play Rugby American Football.

* * *

After watching the Lions upset the Seahawks and one and a half scripted dramas the girls decided to turn in themselves. They stood up and Anna used the remote to turn off the TV, then they both flinched a little when they realized how dark it had gotten. Fortunately, Ingrid had left the staircase light on, so they had no trouble getting upstairs. They crept past the guest bedroom as softly as they could, then gently closed the master bedroom door after they were inside. It was dark in there as well, but enough ambient light streamed in from the windows to allow them to find their way to the bed. They crawled in on the same sides as last night and pulled the covers up over themselves.

Once again, they lay next to each other in silence for a few minutes, then Anna said, "I can't believe everything Ingrid told us about today. It all seems so fantastic."

"Maybe, but we have no reason to doubt the truth of what she told us," Elsa said. "Certainly all her machines work the way she told us they do."

"Yes, but paper money? How bizarre! And why would a magical portal bring us to a place so far away from this realm's only magical village? Elsa...what if she's lying about how far away Storybrooke is?"

"It's possible, but why would she?"

"Well, she doesn't like Storybrooke or the people there. Maybe she wants to keep us from trying to get there without forbidding us outright."

Elsa thought about it. "All right...but consider this: suppose we find someone or something that we can use to verify how far away Storybrooke actually is? What if she's telling the truth, and we really are more than a thousand miles away from Storybrooke? That would mean we'd have to walk for days through a land with powerful machines and millions of strangers just to get to the only other people we know in this world. I find that thought much more frightening than the idea that Ingrid is lying about something."

"That still doesn't tell us why the portal left us here and not there."

"We don't even know who made the portal. If we knew that, it might tell us why it brought us here."

Anna gasped. "Elsa! What if _Ingrid_ made the portal?"

"Ingrid?"

"Think about it: maybe whovever created the portal left us here because they don't like Storybrooke either! Or...Ingrid and the person who made the portal are the same person!"

"So...Ingrid went out of her way to lure us through a mystical portal from Arendelle? For what purpose?"

"Well...I don't know. Do you think she might want to hurt us after all?"

"Actually, after today I'm more convinced than ever that she means us no harm. If she'd wanted to hurt us she could have hit me with her car and left you to freeze to death last night. Instead, she's been treating us like prodigal daughters, and it makes no sense for her to try and teach us how to live in this world if her ultimate goal is to remove us from it."

"In that case...maybe it's the scary thing you said last night. Maybe she wants to keep us safe from whatever she wants to do to Chicago…"

"...or Storybrooke…"

"...or _Arendelle!_ What if she wants revenge on Arendelle for how she was treated as a child? What if she's going to attack from Chicago, and wants to isolate Storybrooke so Emma and the others can't interfere?"

That bit of theory left them both speechless for several minutes, then Elsa closed her eyes and shook her head. "We _must_ stop scaring ourselves this way! For all we know Ingrid's motives are completely innocent and the portal was simply some cosmic accident!"

"But we don't _know_ , Elsa! That's the problem."

"That is the problem, but it's one we may be able to solve tomorrow. If Ingrid goes to work in the morning that means we'll have the run of the house until she returns. We can take the time to search it thoroughly without getting caught."

"How thoroughly?"

"Until we find something...or until we're sure we won't find anything."

Anna nodded seriously. "All right! That's what we'll do."

"We should get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day."

"Right! Good night, Elsa."

"Good night, Anna."

They traded cheek kisses and huddled close and relaxed. It didn't take long for them to fall asleep.

 **TBC...**


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin Colbourne**

* * *

Noise in the wee hours of the morning woke Elsa from a light sleep. Ingrid had been right. The floors of the old house did creak, even if you were on tiptoe, so Elsa didn't miss it when Ingrid crept into the room while she and Anna were still asleep. Elsa could see Ingrid's slim body silhouetted in the light from the hallway as she opened the door and snuck in. The young queen made a split-second decision to pretend to still be asleep, keeping her eyes half open while she waited to see what Ingrid would do.

She was shocked when she saw Ingrid sneak over to Anna's side of the bed and plant a light kiss on her cheek. Then, she closed her eyes tight and froze when she saw Ingrid come around to her side of the bed. Then she felt Ingrid's lips on her cheek, just a light peck. Then there was the creaking as Ingrid snuck back out of the room and closed the door. Elsa waited until she was sure Ingrid had gone downstairs before getting up and heading to the front window. Minutes later, Ingrid's large driving machine pulled out of the garage and headed up the street.

Elsa smiled. Now they had the house to themselves, presumably for hours. She was tempted to start looking around immediately...but, no, better to do it with Anna, and better to do it in daylight, because getting Anna up when it was still dark out was nearly impossible. She got back into bed and coaxed herself back to sleep, ready to get up again when the sun had risen.

* * *

It seemed like no time had passed when Elsa opened her eyes again, but it must have. A bright morning sun was shining through the bedroom windows, softly lighting the whole space. Time to get up.

She slid out of bed and walked around to Anna's side to shake her awake. "Anna? Anna, it's time to get up."

"Huh...whoozit…?" Anna said, only half-awake.

"It's your sister," Elsa said.

Anna smiled. "My sister's a snow queen…"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "You said you'd stop calling me that."

Anna put a finger to her lips. "Shhh! Don't tell her I called her that…" Then she promptly went back to snoring.

Elsa did a facepalm and contemplated being an only chid before shaking Anna harder. "Anna! Wake up!"

Anna woke with a start, raising up and saying, "Who? What? Where's my sword?"

Elsa shook her head. "Back home in Arendelle."

Anna turned to her. "Oh! Elsa! You wouldn't believe the dream I had!"

"You met Hans and wanted to gut him?"

"Hmm? No, before that! I dreamt Ingrid gave me a kiss goodbye, but I didn't know where she was going!"

"That wasn't a dream. Ingrid snuck in and kissed us both goodbye last night."

"She did? Wait...so she's gone?"

"Yes! She's most likely in Chicago right now doing whatever it is she does there…"

"...so now we can look around!" Anna said. She jumped out of bed, ready to start. "How long do you think she'll be away?"

"I don't know. I don't know how long workdays are in this realm…"

"Well, never mind. We'll just get started, and keep going until we hear Ingrid's big car coming. So...where do we start?"

Elsa smiled. "That's easy, Anna...we're in her bedroom."

"Of course! If it were a snake...Listen, you start looking in the wardrobe and I'll start with the closet!"

"You just like Ingrid's walk-in closet."

"Can you blame me? It's like our changing room back home! What should we look for?"

"Anything magical, totems, vials of powder, strange roots...anything she might use to cast some spell."

"Right!" The girls seperated and started searching the closet and the wardrobe. When they turned up nothing but clothes and shoes they moved on to the nighttables, chest-of-drawers and roll-top desk. Finding nothing in those, they both made a thorough search of the make-up table.

"Well, so much for that," Elsa sighed when they were done.

"There's nothing magical in this room," Anna huffed. "Even the non-wicker hamper is just normal."

"Well, we've only just started. We have the whole rest of the house to search. Come on. We'll look in the guest bedroom next."

"Right! Maybe Ingrid gave us her bedroom because she keeps the real scary stuff in the other one!"

The girls went across the hall to the guest bedroom and began searching the furniture and closet in there. It went much quicker because most of the drawers and storage spaces were empty. Ingrid had taken a few outfits from her room and moved them into this one, but that was it.

"Nothing here either," Anna sighed.

"There are other rooms on this floor," Elsa said.

"You don't think she's hiding magic stuff in the bathroom, do you?"

"She could be. Have you looked in the cabinets in there?"

"I have. I don't recognize half the things in them."

Elsa shrugged. "Neither do I, but all of it's probably stuff that's supposed to be in a bathroom in this realm. We'd never be able to tell the difference ourselves. We're better off assuming there's nothing for us to find there and search the other rooms."

"Okay." The girls went back into the hall and opened one of two doors they hadn't opened since they'd arrived. This one was just a linen closet. Still, they searched through the towels and bed things inside and searched the back wall for hidden panels. Still nothing magical.

That left one more door. The girls crossed the hall again and opened it, then peered inside. "This looks promising," Anna said with a smile. "Elsa, this looks like your drawing room."

They had opened the door to the bedroom Ingrid set up as a home office. There was a table-like desk and rolling office chair in the center of the room, and the walls were lined with bookshelves and file cabinets. There was a safe in one corner, and a contraption in another that the girls couldn't begin to understand...so of course they headed straight for it.

"It looks like a conveyer belt," Anna said.

"But what does it convey?" Elsa said. "It's just lying there on the floor. It doesn't go anywhere or come from anywhere. And why does it have handlebars like a bicycle?"

"Look! It has a not-magic-mirror-TV too," Anna said. "It must use electricity, so it's one of Ingrid's machines."

"But what kind of machine? What does it do? And why is it in her drawing room?"

"I say we turn it on and find out."

"No! Anna, we can't just turn something on! What if it damages the house somehow?"

"Well, why would Ingrid have one of these...whatever-it-ises if she thought it would mess up her house?"

"I assume she knows what it's used for. We don't. Without that knowledge it would be foolhardy for us to just play around with it. Besides, it's obviously not magic. We should just leave it alone and continue looking around."

"All right, but we're going to talk about turning it on again later!"

"Very well, but for now let's search the rest of the room. We'll try the metal dressers over there next."

Elsa led the way over to the file cabinets. There were two side-by-side, and each had three squarish drawers. The girls each grabbed a drawer in one and tried to open them.

"They're locked!" Anna said.

"We need a key," Elsa said. She was pointing to a small oval of silver in the corner of her cabinet's front. There was a keyhole in it.

"I don't suppose Ingrid left the key in this room somewhere?"

"I doubt it, and even if she had, I don't want to spend all day looking for just the keys to these dressers."

Anna had an insight. "Can you use your magic to open the lock?"

Elsa looked at her, then studied the lock and said, "Maybe…" She raised her hand to the lock and prepared her powers, then stopped. "Ingrid can sense it when I use my power. What if she senses it while she's in the city?"

Anna thought about it. "We'll say...oh! We'll say there was a wolf in the front yard and you used your powers to scare it away!"

Elsa shook her head. "How do you know there are wolves here?"

"There are wolves _everywhere_! Just open the locks, will you?"

Elsa glared at her for a moment, then went back to studying the lock. A moment later she pressed her palm against it and projected tiny blasts of cool air into the keyhole, using the currents to map out the tumblers. Finally , she knew enough about the lock to make a key out of ice, which she used to open the lock. The silver oval popped out of its recess.

"Ah!" She said, as she and Anna smiled at her success. The smile faded when she tried to open the drawer again.

"It's still locked!" Anna said.

"It can't be," Elsa said. She tried unsuccessfully a few more times. On the third try she noticed that a small stud by the drawer handle moved as she pulled. She put her thumb on it and squeezed in.

The drawer came open.

"Woo-hoo!" Anna cheered. She jumped up and down a few times, then said: "Now do this one! Do this one!"

Elsa made another key for the file cabinet Anna was at, then as one they began going through the contents of the drawers. What they found was disheartening.

"It's just papers," Anna said, "about taxes and stuff! Who keeps papers talking about taxes?"

"Apparently people in this realm do," Elsa said, frustration in her voice.

"I bet the really evil stuff is in that safe," Anna said. They went over to that corner of the room to look at the safe door.

"And of course," Elsa said, "it's so important that Ingrid has a number box on it."

"Ugh! What is it with this world and the stupid number boxes? Do you think you could use your powers to open this one?"

"I'm glad you've developed such faith in me, but I doubt even Ingrid in her prime as Snow Queen could open this without the combination...which is probably why she has it."

Anna sighed. "I bet everything we want is right in there, but we just can't get into it."

"Well, don't give up hope. We still have the bookcases to search."

"Right! Maybe there's a false book with a hidden spell, or one that opens a secret room!"

There were two cases with six shelves each. The girls went over to them and began searching through the books, but after a few minutes searching, Elsa and Anna, both avid readers, forgot their mission and got lost in titles and descriptions.

"She has the collected works of Socrates," Elsa said, "and Plato...and somebody called Sappho."

"Look!" Anna said at one point. "This one's about a boy who wouldn't grow up. I wonder what kind of magic he had…"

"This one's strange," Elsa said, "It's called _'The Hunt For Red October._ '"

Anna winced. "Why would you color a month red? And who would hunt for it?"

"Oh, look! _Grimm's Fairy Tales!"_

Anna shuddered on hearing that. "I never liked those tales. They can be scary! Hey! Look at all the little ones!"

The top two shelves in each case were devoted to paperback books, something not yet available in Arendelle. Soon both sisters were going over each book in their view.

"They're small, like pamphlets," Elsa said, "but they're thick like regular books." She looked inside one. "The print is small, but readable."

Anna was scanning the spines of other books. "A bunch of these ones were written by someone named 'Jackie Collins.'" She pulled one out and looked at the cover. "Ooh! Racy!"

"Put that away," Elsa said with a blush. She returned to her paperbacks. "There's more from the man who wrote about hunting october...and some from a man named King." She pulled out one of those. "This one is strange. 'Cemetery' is spelled with an 'S' and an 'A' in the title."

"There's a bunch from doctors in here," Anna said. "Doctor Oz, Doctor Phil, Doctor Ruth…"

"Do you think Ingrid's sick?"

Anna shrugged. "Maybe it's just preventive medicine. She seemed healthy enough yesterday. Oh, here's a strange one. I wonder…" She pulled it out and read the title, then gasped and shut her eyes tight.

"What is it?" Elsa asked. "What's wrong?"

Anna opened her eyes, but found herself unable to speak, so she just turned the book around so Elsa could read the title. Elsa did so:

 **THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES**

And Elsa gasped and was unable to speak. The girls just stared wide-eyed at each other for a moment. Then they looked down. Then they looked at each other again.

"Are they supposed to _talk_ in this realm?" Elsa asked, horrified at the idea.

Anna just put the book back where she got it. "I don't want to look at any more books," she said.

"Agreed." They rearranged the books on the shelves as best they could while they recovered from the thoughts the last one put in their heads. When they were done, Elsa pointed at the desk. "That's all that's left to search in here."

"Look," Anna said, "Ingrid left her tablet-thing on the desk." They went over to it. "I wish we knew how to make it work. Maybe she keeps her secret magic in there."

"I think we can make it work," Elsa said.

"Really? How?"

Elsa pointed to a sheet of paper lying next to the tablet. Anna picked it up. "It's a note...addressed to us?"

"And," Elsa said, "It looks like instructions for operating the tablet."

Anna bit her bottom lip. "Should we?"

Elsa shrugged. "Well, you wanted to turn something on…"

Anna nodded and proceeded to follow the instructions for setting the tablet on its kickstand, turning it on, activating the Skype app and making a call. The girls watched the blank screen expectantly, waiting for they knew not what…

...then suddenly Ingrid's face was in the screen. She smiled and said, "There you are! Hi, girls!"

Elsa and Anna looked at each other, then at the screen again. "Hi, Aunt Ingrid…" They said nervously.

"Listen, bend toward the screen some so I can see your faces." The girls complied. "Good! Now I can see you."

"And hear us?" Anna said.

"Yep, loud and clear! I'm glad you're up, and that you found the tablet instructions."

"Well, we were just looking around…" Elsa began.

"But not _snooping_ ," Anna said, "because we wouldn't be snooping around your house! We're not _snoopers!"_

"Anna," Ingrid said, "I'm not so naive that I could think I'd leave you in my house all by yourselves and you wouldn't be snooping. Go ahead and snoop all you like. Just try to limit the property damage, okay?"

Both girls blushed and said, "Yes, ma'am."

"Just don't take too long to get something to eat for breakfast. There's plenty of food in the kitchen. Just help yourselves."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And when you're done eating and snooping I want you to watch some more television and see what more you can learn about this world. I'll answer whatever questions I can when I get home."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I get off here at two. I have some shopping to do and I'm going to pick up dinner so I'll probably be home around five or five-thirty, okay?" The girls nodded. "Anna, when we're done here press that little red patch on the screen."

"I will," Anna said.

"That's it then. I have to go now, so..."

"Wait!" Elsa said. "Aunt Ingrid, why did you want us to contact you this way?"

"I had no way to contact you," Ingrid said. "My house doesn't have a land line and you two don't have cell phones, so the only way I could check in on you was if you called me...which you just did." She smiled. "Good girls! I'll see you tonight. Bye-bye!"

"Bye-bye," the girls said, then Anna reached out and touched the red patch on the screen, which turned green as it hung up.

Elsa and Anna just stared at the screen a few minutes, then Anna said, "Wow...she's even scary when she's being nice. She knew what we were going to do before we even did it…"

"And," Elsa said, "she made us do what she wanted even though she's in another city miles away."

Anna lowered the tablet back down. "Maybe we should make sure the room is how we found it."

"Agreed." Elsa went back to the file cabinets and locked them back up, removing all traces of ice from the locks, while Anna went back to the bookcases and straightened them up. Afterwards they met at the door.

"So now what do we do?" Anna said.

"I'll tell you exactly what we'll do," Elsa said. "From now on we're going to take everything Ingrid says and does at face value."

"No more snooping?"

"No more snooping. Ingrid is our elder and our host, and until we catch her in the act of doing something evil we will treat her accordingly and respect her house and her wishes." They left the room as Elsa continued. "And the first of her wishes that we'll respect is to get something for breakfast."

"I'm all for that," Anna said. "I just have one question: who's going to cook it?"

"Well, I thought you might. Didn't you share the cooking duties with your tentmates in the bivouac?

Anna winced. "I cooked once...and afterward the guys got together and asked me very politely to never cook again."

"Never, eh?"

 _"Very_ politely. They almost begged."

"Noted…"

"And I'm guessing you've never cooked either?"

"Until we ended up here I hadn't even seen the inside of a kitchen for ages, and I've certainly never prepared a meal."

Anna sighed. "This could be a problem then...well, maybe we could contact Ingrid again on the Skip…"

"I think it's pronounced 'Sky-pee.'"

"Oh...well, whatever. Maybe she can teach us how to cook something."

Elsa thought about it. "No. I don't think we should disturb her again for something trivial...and maybe we don't have to…"

"You have an idea?"

"Something like that. Come on." She continued as they went to the stairs and started down. "I remember in Storybrooke Emma talked about this food that she likes to eat. It was small and sweet and it didn't require a lot of preparation. Surely it would be easy enough for the two of us to have that for breakfast."

"Okay, but that was in Storybrooke. What makes you think Ingrid has that food here?"

"Just this: before they met in Storybrooke Ingrid actually took care of Emma, in a foster home…"

"Foster home?"

"It's like...when a private citizen offers to take in orphans…"

"Okay, got it...so Ingrid took care of Emma when Emma thought she was an orphan…"

"Yes, but there's more to it. After everything that happened a year ago Emma admitted that her time with Ingrid back then was one of the best times of her life."

"But how does that help us find her perfect food?"

Now they were in the kitchen, and Elsa answered triumphantly, "Think about it: maybe it's Emma's favorite food because she first discovered it while she was living with Ingrid, and if Ingrid had it in her house back then…"

Anna gasped. "Maybe it's because she liked it too, and maybe that means she keeps it in this house!"

Elsa turned and started searching cabinets. She found what she wanted in the second one she tried, then displayed the unopened box to Anna with a wide grin.

Anna read the box. "Pop, Tarts. Toaster pastries?"

Elsa nodded. "We can unwrap them and just eat them as we find them, or we can put them in Ingrid's bread toaster and eat them warm."

"Genius! And we don't burn down the kitchen trying to cook the way Ingrid does!"

"Precisely!"

"The box says there's eight in there. How many should we eat?"

Elsa looked down at the box and thought. "I'm not sure...I don't know how filling they will be. Just to be safe, maybe we should split the whole box between us."

"Good idea...oh! And I know what we can serve with them!" Now Anna went to the cabinets. This time she knew where to find what she was looking for. She pulled out a small square tin with fancy decorations and showed it to Elsa.

"Oh...Ingrid's hot chocolate!" Elsa said.

Anna nodded. "I remember how she prepared it yesterday. It shouldn't be too hard! The most dangerous thing we have to do is boil water!"

"All right. You start making the hot chocolate and I'll start toasting the pop-tarts."

The girls went about their assigned tasks with a sense of excitement. Making their own breakfast was a unique enough experience, but using magical technology to do it just added wow-factor. Elsa was done first thanks to Ingrid's four-slot toaster, so she put the toasted pop-tarts on a plate on the breakfast nook table and waited for the kettle with Anna. Anna had to use trial and error to find out which knob at the back of the stove went to which heating element, but eventually she got the water boiling. Soon they each had a mug of hot water which they scooped chocolate flakes and sugar into, just like Ingrid had last night. Anna remembered the milk at the last minute and went to the refrigerator to get it.

She paused with the door open. "Say," she asked, "do you think the light in here turns itself off like the lights did when we first got here?"

"I was wondering about that yesterday," Elsa said. "We should ask Ingrid later."

Anna nodded and brought the milk to the table while Elsa brought over their mugs. They added the right amount to each mug and took a sip. They sighed. "See? We got it right!" Anna said.

Elsa nodded and reached for a pop-tart. She only took a small bite, but the taste made her eyes light up. "Oh my goodness! Emma was right! This is wonderful!"

"Let me try!" Anna said. She took a pop-tart and took a big bite. "Oh, that's so _gooooood_!" She moaned with her mouth full. "What flavor is it?"

"Wait," Elsa said. She got up and went to get the empty box. "It says 'Frosted Cherry," she said as she brought the box to the table.

Anna was almost done with her first tart, smiling as she chewed. "This is the best frosted cherry anything I've ever eaten!"

"Agreed," Elsa said, before taking a bigger bite of her first.

After that, the girls ate pop-tarts and sipped hot chocolate without speaking, lest any interruption ruin their enjoyment of their sweet breakfast treat. Soon all the tarts and all the chocolate was finished and the girls sat back in their chairs and rubbed their tummies, full and content.

"That was wonderful!" Anna said. "Why doesn't Ingrid have that for breakfast all the time?"

Elsa sighed, "Because she knows how to cook. That gives her access to a greater variety of foods."

"Maybe, but if I could eat pop-tarts and hot chocolate all the time I wouldn't hesitate to do it."

"You sound like Emma now."

"Obviously, Emma's a culinary genius." The girls chuckled at that, then Anna said, "So what do we do now?"

"Ingrid wants us to watch her television mirror. Let's put these dishes in the sink and go into the living room."

The girls did that and sat down on opposite couches as Anna used the remote to turn on the TV. "What should we watch? Ingrid said that different things will be shown depending on which number you switch the box to."

"Let's see what luck brings and pick a number at random," Elsa said. "Try seven."

Anna nodded and touched that number, and they were just in time to catch a stout, dark-haired woman in a kitchen much like Ingrid's explaining to people they couldn't see how to make leg of lamb.

"I wish we'd known that the TV could show people that will teach you how to cook earlier," Elsa said. "Maybe we could have found someone to teach us how to make bacon and eggs."

"I suppose," Anna said, "but I doubt we would have learned much. Why did she keep calling olive oil 'ee-vooo?'"

Elsa shrugged. "Maybe that's what it's called in her native language."

They continued to watch until the woman - who insisted on calling herself "Raytch" - said goodbye to the people they couldn't see, then Anna asked, "Want to try another one?"

Elsa nodded. "Try number two."

Anna complied. After two short plays that tried to make them buy laundry soap and juice made from cranberries a new program started with an announcer yelling out people's names and telling them to come on down. When four people had been called a big man wearing dark-rimmed glasses came on stage and made the people guess the price of a pair of earrings. After they had all guessed the man in glasses revealed the "actual retail price" and pointed at one of them, a heavyset, pink-skinned woman who screamed wildly, ran up on stage and grabbed the man in glasses in a hug while jumping up and down.

"She seems happy," Elsa deadpanned.

Anna was stuck on something else. "Did he say those earrings cost six hundred and twenty-five dollars?"

"I believe so. Why?"

"Does it make sense that in this realm you can buy diamond jewelry for six hundred pieces of paper?"

Elsa shrugged. "Little about this realm makes sense to me."

They decided to keep watching to the end of the program, and were amazed as more people came on down and won prizes by playng guessing games. The last game, The Showcase, was the most surprising of all, as trips were among the prizes.

"Hey, wait," Anna said. "They said they would 'fly' the winner to this 'Belize' place! How?"

"Maybe machines in this realm can fly too," Elsa said.

"Oh, come on! Nobody can make a machine fly! That's impossible!"

"Well, do you think they'll use magic?"

"It has to be magic! Maybe they have flying carpets or something!"

"Machines flew in that Star Wars play we saw last night."

"But Ingrid told us beforehand that it was make-believe! Flying machines can't be both fake and real!"

Elsa didn't respond. They turned their attention back to the TV and watched until someone won the showcase. As the closing music played, Elsa said, "I don't know what we should be learning from doing this…"

"Maybe we're just not seeing the right things," Anna said. "Let's try a big number this time."

Elsa thought about it, then picked, "One hundred and five."

"Cool!" Anna pressed one, zero and five rapidly. The channel on the TV changed again. This time there were three short plays selling cars, insurance and legal services. After that, a program began where people were bidding on closed garages. It was like the prize show, but they didn't know what they'd won until the bidding was over.

"That guy that keeps going 'YUUUP!' is annoying!" Anna complained.

"Have you noticed how much people in this realm seem to value buying and winning things?" Elsa asked. "It's like a merchant's paradise. Wandering Oaken could make a fortune here."

"He would have to, given some of the retail prices we heard in that other show." Anna shook her head. "Let's try another number. Maybe we'll find another play like the Star Wars. This time I'll pick." Anna closed her eyes and made her mind go blank and waited for a random three digit number to come to her. When she got one she opened her eyes and smiled as she worked the remote.

What they saw next intrigued them. The TV showed some kind of ancient land where people dressed in fur and armor and gowns and carried broadswords and axes. There was drama, and melee warfare, and nudity and dragons of all things. By the end of the program, Elsa and Anna were staring wide-eyed at the screen.

"That was incredible!" Anna said. "I wonder if that land is real or make-believe?"

"It certainly seems like a land in the Magic Realm," Elsa said, "although I don't know anyone there who takes their clothes off so readily…"

"I think they said they were going to show more of it…"

And they did, and as the second installment began, both girls made sure they memorized its title: _Game of Thrones_.

When the GoT reruns were done, they tried one more number and found something called "Fox News Channel" which talked about politics and people in the world. The people who were talking acted like they were telling true stories, but the girls couldn't tell one way or another.

After about twenty minutes of news, Anna said, "I think I'm kind of hungry again. Should we have something for lunch, or wait until Ingrid brings dinner?"

Elsa thought about it, then smiled as she said, "I think there's another box of Pop-tarts in the cabinet…"

The girls jumped off the couches and giggled as they ran into the kitchen.

* * *

Ingrid backed her Yukon into the garage just a few minutes before five-thirty. As she waited for the garage door to close she noticed a strange but familiar sensation. It was the exact same feeling she'd had on the road when Elsa was using her powers, only this time it wasn't as intense. It made her curious. What possible reason could Elsa have for using her powers in the house? Then when she got out of the truck she heard something even more curious. It sounded like Elsa and Anna were in the kitchen yelling at each other...and there was a clash of swords…

"No way…" Ingrid muttered as she rushed to the alarm box and typed in the disarm code. When the green light came on she threw open the kitchen door…

...to find Elsa and Anna locked in mortal combat, holding each other at bay with broadswords made of smoky blue ice. "You'll never take my land away from me, foul brigand!" Anna yelled as they pushed their swords against each other.

"I take only what is my birthright," Elsa shot back, "as last heir of the house of Romaine!"

Anna broke character. "Oh, that was good! What name should I pick?"

"Girls!" Ingrid said in the best mom-voice she could manage.

It worked. The girls turned to her wide-eyed and broke off their duel. They turned to stand facing her and hid their swords behind their backs, where Elsa used her powers to make them disappear.

"Tell me you weren't having a sword fight _in the middle of my kitchen,_ " Ingrid said.

The girls blushed, glanced at each other, then turned back to Ingrid as Anna said, "Well, we started in the laundry room, but things kind of got out of hand…"

"We were playing," Elsa said, "like that TV play we saw today with the teagardens…"

"You mean the targeterians," Anna said.

Ingrid huffed. " _Targaryens?"_

"That was it!" The girls said.

 _Freaking Game of Thrones_ , Ingrid thought as she shook her head..and that was when she saw the two empty Pop-tart boxes on the breakfast nook table. "And tell me you didn't eat all of my Pop-tarts in one sitting!" Her voice went up in tone as she said it.

The girls blushed harder and lowered their heads. "It was actually two sittings…" Elsa volunteered.

Ingrid closed her eyes, took a calming breath and reminded herself that they were Gerda's children and shouldn't be killed. When she could speak normally, she stepped inside and pointed into the garage. "There are bags in my car. Go get the colorful ones out and run them up to your room. Right now. Burn some of that sugar off."

"Yes, Ma'am!" The girls trotted past Ingrid into the garage and got the colorful shopping bags they found out of the back seat of the truck. They trotted back in and went straight past Ingrid and out of the kitchen. "Come right back down," Ingrid called after them, "so I can get some actual food into you!" With that she went back into the garage and got the food she'd brought home from Panera Bread and started laying it out on the table, clearing away the boxes and the plates with pastry crumbs the girls had left.

"We put the bags on the bed," Anna said as the girls came back into the kitchen. She saw the food on the table and was immediately euphoric. "Look! Sandwiches!"

"Yes," Ingrid said, "Those are called _paninni_ , which is just fancy Italian for 'sandwiches'...which, by-the-way, is something you could have had for lunch instead of pop-tarts."

Elsa blinked. "We could have?"

"Didn't you look in the refrigerator at all? I keep tons of cold cuts in there, and there's plenty of bread in the breadbox."

The girls looked at each other. "We could have made sandwiches…"

"Oops," Anna said. "We didn't know. We were too busy wondering about the light in there."

"What about the light in there?"

"Does it stay on when the door is closed, or does it turn itself off like the house lights?"

"And," Elsa said, "is it magic or machinery?"

Ingrid just stared at them for a moment, then she sighed and walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. "There's a switch in here mounted on a spring. The door moves it. Open the door, it releases the switch and turns on the light. Close the door, it compresses the switch and turns the light off."

"Oh," the girls said, then Elsa said to Anna, "See, I told you it wasn't magic!"

"Well, big deal! Nothing in the house is magic!"

"But you said…!"

"Stop!" Ingrid called out. When they were silent she made them sit down. She'd brought home paninnis and salads and Pure Leaf iced teas. When she sat at the table with them, she asked them, "Now, are there any other burning questions you want to ask me?"

Both girls raised their hands.

"Put your hands down," Ingrid said. "Anna, you go first."

"Are there real flying machines?"

"Yes, they're called airplanes and helicopters, and they do fly."

"See? I told you that too," Elsa said.

"Well, you didn't know what they were called!" Anna shot back.

Ingrid slammed her palm down on the table. When she had their attention, she said, "Elsa, your turn."

"Why does the TV give away valuable things to people who guess the actual retail price?"

"That's called a game show. There are several, and its a safe, legal form of gambling that average people can take part in. It's fun, and some find it more fun to be on camera and share their wins or losses with an audience."

"Is the land where the T-Tar-gar-ee-ans are real?" Anna asked.

"No, it's make-believe. The show is adapted from books written by a fantasy storyteller."

Elsa suddenly blushed hard as she started to ask another question. It made her pause, and instead of saying it out loud, she got up and walked around the table to whisper it in Ingrid's ear. Ingrid's eyebrow went up and she looked at Elsa as if she were crazy. When she realized her niece was serious, she said, "No, they don't talk in this realm either. The monologues are a collection of women's life experiences. The title is symbolic."

Elsa nodded, smiled an embarrassed smile and resumed her seat while sharing a relieved look with her sister.

Ingrid shook her head at that and said, "Are there any other questions?"

Elsa shrugged. "Not really important ones…"

"Can we just eat now?" Anna said. "We were getting kind of hungry…"

"Eat," Ingrid commanded. The girls attacked their paninnis with gusto, making Ingrid smile as she started on her salad. "I bought some new clothes for both of you today…"

"New clothes?" Anna said with a comically full mouth.

Elsa managed to swallow before adding, "That's what was in the bags?"

Ingrid nodded. "We'll try them on after we're done with dinner."

"I wonder what it will be like to wear clothes from this realm," Anna said.

"In some ways it won't be much different. Some articles of clothing haven't changed much from their earliest versions."

"I remember the dress Emma wore when she was courting the pirate gentleman," Elsa said. "It was certainly different. It didn't seem...finished."

That comment made Anna cock her head, wondering what Elsa meant. Ingrid just smiled. "I like the way Emma dresses. It's very stylish and confident. I tried to keep that in mind when I was picking clothes for you two. This will be fun. I never got to play dress-up with my sisters so today I get to use you girls as surrogates."

The girls had different reactions to that statement. It was enough to trigger Anna's sense of adventure, while Elsa felt a hint of dread at what her strange aunt might make her wear…

* * *

Later, in the master bedroom, Ingrid had Elsa sit on the bed and Anna stand next to her while she looked through the bags to see what had been packed in each one. As she switched some items between the bags she said, "I had to guess your sizes but I'm pretty sure I got them right, or at least close. Next time I'll take you with me and you'll have a chance to try things on." When she was done shifting she picked up three of the bags and turned to Anna. "Okay, you, into the closet and off with the nightshirt."

"Yay! Me first!" Anna said. She turned and fairly jogged into the walk-in closet with Ingrid following behind. Elsa's heart skipped half-a-beat when Ingrid closed the door behind them. It was silly for her to be apprehensive, of course. Ingrid was just _dressing_ Anna, right?

It took only a moment before Anna yelled out something that Elsa never expected to hear anyone say in her life: "This is _underwear?"_

A moment later Anna burst out of the closet almost naked with a silly grin on her face. "Look at this, Elsa!" She said with a laugh. "This is what they wear for underwear here!" She pointed at the tiny articles of clothing she was wearing. "No corset, no stays...it's just bosom covers and a loincloth!"

"You mean a bra and panties," Ingrid said. She was really glad she got the right sized Hanes-Her-Ways. The matching B-cup bra and boyleg panties fit Anna's curves perfectly, and badly fitted undergarments were a real pain.

"I feel so free!" Anna gushed. "It feels like I'm not wearing anything!"

"It certainly _looks_ like you're not wearing anything," Elsa said, slightly scandalized.

"Oh, not true," Ingrid said. "There are some people who really don't wear anything under their clothes. It's called 'Going commando.'"

Anna gasped. "Can I go commando?"

"No!" Elsa said forcefully.

"Come on, kid," Ingrid said, "let's not make your sister's head explode. Back in the closet."

"Okay! I can't wait to see what's next!" Anna turned and trotted back into the closet. Ingrid followed and closed the door again. This time Elsa couldn't hear anything distinct, but she could tell they were conversing as Anna tried things on, and her little sister sounded almost jubilant. When she emerged again a few minutes later she was fully dressed and still grinning.

"Well, what do you think?" Anna asked.

Elsa took it all in. Anna was now wearing a turtleneck pullover and a button down sweater with leggings and low-heeled ankle boots. A thin belt was cinched around her waist as an accessory. The belt and leggings were basic black while the rest of clothes were various shades of green.

Elsa couldn't take her eyes off the leggings. "But…" she said, "those are like what woodsmen wear."

Ingrid nodded as she stood next to Anna. "That's right. That's what I meant before. Leggings have been around forever. The only thing that's really changed is the fabric."

"But they still show...everything! Anna might as well just wear the loincloth!"

Anna gasped again. "Can I…?"

"No," Ingrid said this time. "Even if I wanted to let you it's too cold."

Elsa was still scandalized by the leggings. "Can't she at least wear a skirt with them or something?"

Ingrid thought about it, then looked at Anna's hips, then she tugged the tail of the pullover down until it stretched enough to cover Anna's butt. She smiled at Elsa. "There. Instant skirt."

Elsa was exasperated. "No real skirt is _that_ short!"

Ingrid chuckled. "It's a good thing you didn't come to this realm in the Sixties."

"Come on, Elsa," Anna said. "It's not like I'm prancing around like Lady Godiva!"

"Yes, Elsa dear...girls Anna's age dress like this all the time and nobody bats an eye. Well...almost nobody. Really old people and bible-thumpers might have a problem with it…"

"Why do they thump bibles?" Anna asked. "Are they mad at them?"

"Never mind," Ingrid said. "Let's finish off your outfit." She went back into the closet and pulled the last two items from the shopping bags in there. She came back and helped Anna put on a black stadium jacket and snugged a green woolen snow cap on her head. "There, all layered and stylish and ready to step out on a winter's day."

"How do I look now, Elsa?" Anna asked as she modeled herself.

"Of course you look wonderful, Anna. I'm just worried about the attention you'll get in those clothes. You are a married woman, after all."

Ingrid smirked. "You obviously haven't seen 'Real Housewives' yet." With that she grabbed the remaining bags from the bed and looked squarely at Elsa. "Your turn. Into the closet."

Elsa's eyes widened. "Um, I don't really need clothes, Aunt Ingrid. I can make them with my powers."

"I know...and in a city as densely packed as this one someone will brush up against you and we'll have to explain how they got frostbite from physical contact with your gown. You're wearing normal clothes. Into the closet."

Elsa sighed and stood up, then walked toward the closet with her head bowed. "Don't be like that, Elsa!" Anna said. "It will be great! Everything is super comfortable!"

"And for you I have something special," Ingrid said. "Since we're both snow queens, I'm going to indulge a little and dress you the way I dress."

Elsa stopped and wheeled on Ingrid and took a close look at the clothes she was wearing. Ingrid was wearing a snug wool sweater, tight jeans and calf-high, low-heeled boots, all in shades of blue. Elsa was amazed how Ingrid could be fully clothed and still display her entire body.

The queen's courage failed her. "I have to go to the bathroom!" She blurted out.

Ingrid hit her with a commanding stare. "Hold it till we're done." She pointed at the closet. "Get in there."

Elsa pouted and turned to walk into the closet as if she were on punishment.

Ingrid rolled her eyes. "Elsa, I get it...you were raised to adhere to decorum and propriety and codes of royal attire...but none of that matters here. You are not royal in this realm. You are just my 22-year-old niece, and as long as you're here you will look the part." With that Ingrid followed Elsa into the closet and closed the door.

Anna, who was thoroughly entertained by Elsa's unease, sat down on the bed and waited for Elsa's fashion show. Then after about a minute, she called out on a whim, "Show me your underwear!"

"NO!" Elsa yelled back. Anna giggled, then was surprised when she heard, "Ingrid! No! I don't…!"

The closet door flew open and Ingrid pushed Elsa out of the closet and over to the bed. "It's only fair," Ingrid said. "She showed you hers, so you show her yours."

"It's _not_ fair," Elsa muttered. She was wearing the same bra and panty set Anna had on, only hers were sky blue instead Anna's sea green set.

"Doesn't it feel great?" Anna said.

"I feel exposed," Elsa said. She was squirming around trying to find a pose that would let her feel less naked.

"Come on," Ingrid said. "We'll go back in and finish dressing you."

Elsa and Ingrid retreated into the closet and the door closed again. This time Anna waited patiently as she expected Elsa to fight Ingrid on every article of clothing. That meant she was pleasantly surprised when Elsa and Ingrid emerged much more quickly than she had. Elsa was now wearing a pair of stone-washed denim skinny jeans and a white cowl-neck wool sweater and a pair of white, calf-high, low-heel boots of her own. As with Ingrid's outfit, the ensemble enhanced Elsa's figure but didn't try very hard to hide it.

"Turn around," Anna said. Elsa turned away and Anna said, "Woohoo! See your butt!"

"Anna!" Elsa said, blushing.

"And it's a gorgeous butt, too," Ingrid said. "It's too bad she always wants to hide it under those super long gowns of hers…"

Elsa covered her ears. "I'm not listening to you two any more!"

Ingrid smiled and went back to the closet to retrieve the final touches. She came back out with a North Face white-with-blue trim ski jacket and a broad wool headband in light blue. After helping Elsa put those on she admired her work. "Perfect. I know you don't need this to protect you from the weather but it's perfect camouflage. Now let me see the both of you." Anna stood up and the girls turned and posed for Ingrid, who grinned at the sight. "Beautiful! That's my girls! Okay...I didn't get any gloves, but I already own several pairs so you both can borrow some if you'd like. What else? Oh! Anna, no more pigtails."

Anna blinked. "Why not?"

"Because in this realm only little girls and fallen women wear them. You should wear something more sophisticated. You should wear a single braid like your sister."

"Excuse me?" Elsa said.

"Really?" Anna said, gleefully. "I get to wear an 'I'm a beautiful queen' fancy braid?"

"Really. You just wear it on the right. Elsa usually wears hers on the left, yes?"

"Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said, "is that really necessary? I mean…"

"Yes!" Anna said. "Yes it is, because we have to respect Ingrid's wishes! That's what _you_ said!"

"Since when do you pay so much attention to what I say?" Elsa shot back.

"It's settled!" Ingrid called out, ending the argument. "You will wear matching sister braids. Now...everything off and into new nightshirts."

"Aww," Anna said, "can't we wear this a little longer?"

"You're going to be in those outfits all day tomorrow. I'm going to take you to work with me."

"You are?" Elsa said. "Really?"

"Did you think I would keep you prisoner in this house the whole time you were here? I told you: I didn't want you two wandering around like this is Storybrooke, so I had to get you some clothes." She went over to the wardrobe and grabbed a single nightshirt. "You can choose your own nightshirts tonight. We all have to turn in early, so jackets and head gear on the hooks on the closet door and all your clothes put away in the nighttables for tomorrow. When I come back I want you ready for bed, got it?"

"Got it," The girls said in unison.

Ingrid nodded and left the room.

* * *

It was only a short time later when the girls found themselves lying next to each other in bed in the darkened master bedroom. Ingrid had commanded them to try and get to sleep as soon as they could to offset how early they would have to get up in the morning, but they didn't feel tired, so sleep was slow to come.

At one point Anna started giggling. When Elsa turned toward her, she said, "I was just remembering your face when I came out of the closet in my underwear." Then the giggles got harder. "Now I'm remembering your face when Ingrid pushed _you_ out of the closet in your underwear!"

"Anna, that's not funny," Elsa said, though she was giggling right along with Anna. "Oh goodness...that was so embarrassing. I thought I would absolutely die."

"I'm just glad we're getting out of this house," Anna said. "I can't wait to see more of what this funny-looking world looks like."

"I definitely want to see some of those tall buildings up close," Elsa said. "If Ingrid works in one of them, I want to see how many stairs it takes to reach the top."

"I bet they have some super technology to take you to the top, like...a dumb-waiter with cables energized with lightning."

"You're probably right. Aunt Ingrid's car has cup holders, just like you put in Kristoff's new sled."

"Really?"

"Really. I think you were made for this realm, Anna. You have no problem just settling right in."

"Maybe...but I still want to go home. I mean...I think this world is fun, but…"

"But I miss home, too. I'm sure we'll get back. I'm no longer worried Ingrid wants to keep us here…"

"What if our only way back is to use that door in that house in Storybrooke? Do you think Ingrid would be willing to take us there...or send us there in a flying machine, like those game show people?"

A pause. "I think...Ingrid would help us in any way she could, even by taking us back to a place she seems to hate. She's more than our elder. I think she's made herself our guardian."

"I think so, too."

"We'll ask her about going to Storybrooke at dinner tomorrow. I still want to see where she works, so let's focus on that while we're out."

"Agreed."

The girls kissed each other good night and settled into the covers, then closed their eyes and tried to make themselves fall asleep.

Then they started giggling again...

 **TBC...**


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

Creaking floors woke Elsa up again. This time Ingrid wasn't trying to sneak around. She came right over to the side of the bed Elsa was on and turned on the nighttable lamp. "Elsa, Anna...it's time to get up," she said. "Come on…"

Elsa rolled over and sat up on the side of the bed and looked at Ingrid through tired eyes. She looked like she had just gotten out of the shower. She was wearing a large towel and a showercap. "Ingrid?" Elsa said. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get out of that bed and start getting ready," Ingrid said. "Come on, sweetie. I have to get there early."

Elsa rubbed sleep from her eyes and forced herself to stand. "Yes, ma'am," she said, "but it may be hard to get Anna up. She's hard to wake up at normal times."

Ingrid looked over at Anna. The girl was turned away from them and snoring away. "Yes, I noticed," she said, "but I can't wait for her today, so we'll have to do something drastic." Ingrid reached out and pulled the covers off Anna's body, then she grabbed the tail of Anna's nightshirt and lifted it away from Anna's bare bottom. Then she turned to Elsa and said, "Okay...hit her."

Elsa's eyebrow went up. "Hit her?"

Ingrid nodded. "Yep. Blast of cold air. Right on the _tuchis_."

"Oh, Ingrid, I couldn't!"

"She'll be fine as long as you don't make it too cold. We just want to wake her up."

Elsa hesitated one more second as she contemplated Anna's reaction - which made her smile in spite of her misgivings - then she reached her hand toward Anna's rear and channeled a gust of frigid air at it.

Anna woke yelling "Wa-hey!" and fairly jumped out of bed on her side, then she danced around rubbing her butt and muttering, "Coldcoldcoldcold!" When she could finally stand still she turned to Elsa and said, "Whadja do that for?!"

Elsa pointed at Ingrid and said, "She made me do it…"

"And now that you're _both_ up," Ingrid said, "I need you to get moving. I want you dressed and ready to go in the garage in thirty minutes. Let's go, ladies." She was already out the door by the time she said that last.

Anna was incredulous. She turned to look out the window, then back at Elsa. "Does she know it's still dark outside?"

Elsa pointed at the lamp Ingrid turned on. "Pretty sure she knows. Come on. Let's not keep her waiting."

"Do we really have to?" Anna said as they both trudged tiredly out of the room and toward the bathroom.

"Aren't you curious what she does all day? What if she's finally going to show us her headquarters for taking over the world?"

"Can't we just let her take it over and go back to sleep?"

* * *

It actually took closer to forty minutes, but the girls finally arrived in the garage wearing the clothes they'd tried on yesterday evening. They even had their braids done the way Ingrid wanted, Elsa's usual braid on the left and Anna's similar braid on the right. Ingrid, dressed in dark-blue denims and a black turtleneck and boots, was wearing her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. She took a moment to inspect her nieces and said, "Good girls. All right, pile in."

The girls got into the car in the same seats they'd been in the night before while Ingrid locked the kitchen door and set the alarm, then Ingrid got into the driver's seat. Her hand reached out to start the engine, but she hesitated for a moment, then sat back. "I have a confession to make," She said, "and I have to tell you before you meet my co-workers and friends. I haven't told anybody here that Gerda is dead."

Elsa and Anna were stunned. "Why not?" Elsa said.

Ingrid shrugged. "I keep hoping that the way I'll be reunited with her is that she'll be resurrected the way I was. If that turns out to be the case, I didn't want to have to explain to people how she miraculously came back to life."

"Oh," was all Anna could think of to say.

"It never occurred to me that I would see anyone else that knew the truth before then…" Ingrid said.

"...until we showed up," Elsa said.

"Exactly."

"Well then, what do you tell people about our mother?"

"I tell them that Gerda and I had a falling out because she blamed me for our other sister's death and she banished me from her life, and that we haven't spoken to each other since."

"So, the truth," Anna said, "mostly."

"Mostly," Ingrid said. "It's up to you two if you want to continue the ruse, but I want you to be prepared when you realize the people you meet know nothing of your mother's death."

Anna and Elsa took a few moments to let that sink in, then Anna said, "Sometimes, I like to pretend mother is still alive, but she's staying out of my way and letting me live my own life, but she'll be right there if I need to talk to her or something. I know it's silly, but…"

"Don't say that," Ingrid said. "I talk to my little sister all the time, as if she's always right beside me, because sometimes it's the only way I can keep the grief from missing her from driving me crazy. Don't let anyone tell you how you deal with your mother's loss is wrong."

"I won't," Anna said.

"And we won't tell anyone your secret, Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said. "Who knows? Maybe because you're preparing for the possibility it makes it more likely to happen."

Ingrid smiled. "Maybe...okay, seat belts. We have to make up some time so I'm going to make it up on the highway."

The girls strapped in and Ingrid started the car before putting on her own seat belt. Soon after they were pulling out of the garage and on their way. At the first red light Ingrid pulled her thermos out of her bag and opened it to take a swig. As they got moving again she reached the thermos over to Elsa. "Here," she said, "I want you both to drink some of this."

"Coffee again?" Elsa said, warily.

"Made fresh this morning. It will wake both of you up."

"I've never had coffee before," Anna said.

"You're not missing anything," Elsa said as she took the thermos. She opened it up and took a sip. Even that little bit made her frown. Reluctantly she handed the thermos to Anna.

Anna smiled, took the thermos and took a swig...then her eyes bugged out and she gagged. "Whoa! What is that?"

"That is _coffee_ ," Elsa said.

"It's vile! Who would drink something that bitter and harsh?"

"Everybody in this country," Ingrid said. "It's the unofficial national drink. Everybody goes through pots of it a day, so every place that sells food has to sell it just to make a profit. There are places that specialize in selling it, including my shop. That's where I'm taking you today."

"You _actually_ sell that to people?" Elsa said.

"Do you hate them?" Anna said.

"Listen, I get that it's not hot swiss chocolate or English Breakfast tea but there is a giant market for it in this country, which is why I choose to sell it. It makes me money, so I can pay for my house and my car and my machines...and for the chocolate and pop-tarts you two ate me out of yesterday."

The girls blinked. "Wait," Elsa said, "so no coffee sales…"

"...no pop-tarts and no hot chocolate?" Anna said.

"That's what I'm saying," Ingrid said.

Anna thought about that, looked down at the thermos in her hand, then closed her eyes. "Poptarts and hot chocolate, poptarts and hot chocolate, poptarts and hot chocolate," she chanted, before opening her eyes and taking a huge swig. She winced at the flavor, then handed the thermos to Elsa, who repeated the chant and took another swig before handing the thermos back to Ingrid.

"That's my girls," Ingrid said with a smile. She took one more pull of coffee before placing the thermos in a cup holder.

The ride was quiet until they were on the highway for a few minutes and the Chicago skyline came into view. "Anna, look," Elsa said, "those are all buildings. That's where we're going."

"I think that's where _everybody's_ going," Anna said. She was looking out of the windows at the surrounding traffic and mentally counting all the moving lights. "I didn't know there were this many driving machines anywhere!"

"Different cultures have different rites of passage for their kids," Ingrid said, "but this is one of the few where one of those rites is getting your own car. Some kids get their first cars as soon as they get their licenses."

"Licenses?" Elsa said.

"One peculiarity of this culture is that everyone wants their own car, but you need permission from the state government to drive it."

"You're kidding!" Anna said.

"Kid you not. Mine's in my purse. Elsa, take out my wallet. It's right there."

Elsa dug around Ingrid's purse till she found a billfold. She pulled it out and opened it up. Ingrid's Illinois Driver's License was prominent.

Elsa giggled at the sight of it. "There's a little portrait of you! You look upset…"

Elsa handed the billfold back to Anna. "I bet you were mad because you had to ask the state for permission to drive," she said.

"No, that was back when I got my first one in Florida," Ingrid said. "By the time I got my first one here I was used to it. It's just that you always look horrible in your driver's license picture."

"Do you have to get more than one license?" Elsa said as she put the billfold back in the purse.

"In a way. A license has to be renewed every few years on your birthday. I'll have to renew this one in a couple of years."

"That's so silly!" Anna said. "That's like everybody in Arendelle having to ask Elsa for permission to own a sled."

"Correction: You could own the sled whenever you like. What you'd need permission for is to put it in snow and slide it around."

"So weird…"

"Anyway, once you get used to having your first car you tend to want to keep having cars to get around in, so as you get older and earn more money you get better and more useful cars. Then, it's often the case that your most lucrative job is in a city, but you want to live in the suburbs, like me, so your car becomes very important because you need it just to get to work every morning. So what happens is what you see on the road here: lots of people who want to live miles away from where they work trying to get there on time in their cars. It's called Morning Rush Hour, which is actually several hours long."

"And you do this every day?"

"Except weekends. I do the most business selling coffee to people on their way to work in the morning."

"And can you really make billions of dollars selling it?" Elsa asked.

"Not by myself. It's a billion-dollar industry, but the revenues are shared among franchises, restaurants, cafes, delis, newsstands, food carts, et cetera...if the American People woke up one day and decided to only drink herbal tea the entire food service industry would be hosed."

"Hosed?" Anna said.

Ingrid smiled. "Imagine your wedding night…"

Both girls gasped and blushed. "Aunt Ingrid!" They said, then they all giggled.

The ride quieted down again as the morning rush carried them closer and closer to Chicago, which meant the buildings were getting bigger and bigger, until they were inside the city limits and it looked to Elsa and Anna like they were traveling through man-made canyons. They pressed their faces against the windows and craned their necks, trying desperatley to take it all in. Then, before they knew what was happening, Ingrid turned the Yukon into one of the buildings.

"Is this where you work?" Anna asked.

"No, not yet," Ingrid said. "Unfortunately there's no place for me to park near the shop, so I'll leave the car here and we'll go the rest of the way by train."

"There are trains here too?" Elsa said.

"They won't be like the few you might have seen in the other realm. They're kind of boring really…" Ingrid's voice trailed off as she pulled the vehicle even with a booth ouside her window and stopped. She went into her purse to get the billfold out again and pulled out a colorful, rigid card. She handed it to the man inside the booth, he turned away to do something with it, then handed it back to Ingrid with two slips of paper. Ingrid studied one slip for a second, then said "Thank you" to the man before driving further into the structure. The girls watched in amazement as Ingrid navigated what seemed like a dark labyrinth filled with parked cars until she reached a half-empty section, found an empty space marked by white lines and backed into it.

"Okay, everybody out," Ingrid said. She got out of the driver's side and retrieved her purse and thermos and her jacket from the empty back seat. The girls piled out of the passenger side as she put it on and zipped up. When she was sure they had everything Ingrid used her key-holder to lock up. "All right...now we just take the elevator down to the street and there's a station about a block down."

"Elevator?" Elsa said.

Ingrid thought about it. "It's kind of like...a big dumb-waiter powered by electricity. Come on."

Ingrid walked off toward the elevator with the girls in tow. As they walked Elsa silently congratulated Anna on her prescience.

Later, outside the parking structure, the girls went back to craning their necks while trying to keep up with Ingrid on the walk to the train station. Ultimately, Ingrid had to stop and corral them. "Come on, girls! You can sight-see later!"

"Sorry, Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said as they caught up.

"It's just so amazing," Anna said. "Some of these buildings are so high you can't see…" She looked up one more time and saw something remarkable. "Look! There are lights in the sky!"

Ingrid looked up. "Okay, yes…" she said, "that's an airplane."

"It is?" Elsa said as she looked up. The lightening sky let her see a silhouette of the plane surrounded by its running lights.

"Yes, it's a passenger airplane," Ingrid said, "and you can see them all day, now come on. We have to get moving."

Ingrid started off toward the train station again. This time the girls were right on her heels, but they couldn't just forget about the airplane. "Are there really passengers in the plane, like a sailing ship?" Anna said.

"Just like. Some of the largest planes can carry hundreds of passengers."

"Where do they go?" Elsa asked.

"All over the world. Every major city has an airport with hundreds of departures and arrivals daily, and the departures can go across the country, across the lakes, across the oceans...everywhere."

"Have you ever been on one?" Anna asked.

"Yes, I have…"

"What was it like? Was it incredible?"

"It was terrifying."

The girls stopped in their tracks, forcing Ingrid to stop as well. "Why was it terrifying?" Anna asked.

"Is it unsafe?" Elsa asked. "If it's unsafe, why do hundreds of people ride in them?"

Ingrid sighed as she realized she didn't want to put the fear of god into the girls. "It is safe," Ingrid said. "Statistically speaking air travel is safer than driving. As long as the flight crew knows what they're doing most of the time the plane takes off and lands safely. The terror is psychological. It's so far beyond our experience that knowing it's safe doesn't matter.

"Let me put this in perspective for you: We all grew up in the same castle in Arendelle, which at its highest point is maybe ten stories tall, and at that it is the tallest building in the realm, all right?"

She looked around and pointed to a skyscraper in the distance. "That is the top of the Willis Tower. It is the second tallest building in the United States. That building is one-hundred and eight stories tall, more than ten times the height of our childhood home and higher than we could ever go without climbing the nearby mountains."

Now Ingrid pointed to the sky. "A passenger jet, depending on its destination, operates at a height of between ten and thirty thousand feet. Now we're not talking mere stories. We're talking _miles_. In an airplane, you are either two _miles_ or six _miles_ above the ground, and instead of the floors of a sturdy castle or a steel skyscraper, there is nothing between you and that ground but _air_. The only way you can feel comfortable on an airplane is if you manage to completely ignore that fact. Lots of people can. I never could, so for me... _terrifying_. Okay?"

The girls, wide-eyed as they contemplated what Ingrid just told them, nodded dumbly.

"So can we get moving now? We have a train to catch."

The girls nodded and Ingrid set off again. Elsa and Anna followed closely. As they walked, Anna whispered to Elsa, "Maybe we should ask Ingrid to _drive_ us to Storybrooke…"

"Agreed," Elsa whispered back.

"What was that?" Ingrid said.

"Nothing!" The girls said innocently.

At the train station Ingrid pulled out her billfold again and this time took out three more rigid cards. She kept one for herself and handed one each to Elsa and Anna. "These are Ventra cards," she told them. "You'll need them to pay your train fare."

Anna examined the card. "But it's not money," she said.

"It's a type of money. A dollar amount is recorded electronically on the card. When we get to the turnstile the machine there will extract the amount of the fare from the card."

"What's a turnstile?" Elsa said.

"That." Ingrid pointed to what looked like a row of gates blocked by giant spurs with thick steel prongs. People were pushing their way through each gate at a steady clip.

When they got close Ingrid held up her card and said, "Tap the end of this on the little window on the bottom. When the fare is paid the top window will turn green and say 'Go.' When it does, push the metal bar out of your way with your hip to get through the gate." She demonstrated and was through the turnstile quickly.

Elsa was more deliberate with the procedure but managed to get through in one go. Anna tried once and the top window flashed red.

"Wrong end," Ingrid said.

Anna turned to the other end and tried again. The window flashed red.

"Cover the bottom window completely," Ingrid said.

Anna lowered the end of the card slowly and used it to completely eclipse the bottom window. The top window flashed green and Anna pushed through quickly. "They should just let us use paper money," she complained.

"Do you have any paper money?" Ingrid asked.

"Well...no…"

"Then that wouldn't have helped you anyway, so keep calm and do what you can do. Don't lose those cards. You need them to get around."

The girls put their Ventra cards in jacket pockets as they all ascended to the train platform. Once there Ingrid walked over to the wide yellow line that bordered the platform edge and stopped. The girls flanked her, standing about an inch behind the wide line the way she was.

As time passed more people joined the three of them standing at the yellow line. The regular commuters, including Ingrid, all turned their heads in the same direction. Elsa noticed this and looked that way too, wondering what was so fascinating. Anna's gaze went back and forth around the platform, trying to see all the people and things that could be seen. At one point she noticed a woman in a business suit and winter coat standing close to her, so she put on a pretty smile and decided to make friends. "Hi! My name is Anna! This is my first time taking a train! I'm excited...and a little nervous. I mean, this is my first time doing a lot of things in a big city, and I'm not always sure of the etiquette. My sister is better at things like that. We're here visiting our aunt…"

At this point Anna noticed two things. First, the woman's eyes were slowly widening. Second, Ingrid was gently squeezing her hand. Anna turned to Ingrid and said, "Yes?"

Ingrid smiled and said softly, "Anna dear, I know that you're a friendly and open person and I love that about you, but it's not a good idea to just start blurting things out to a total stranger like that."

"No? But I didn't mean any harm…"

"I know, but it's early and people are tired and vulnerable and everyone in a city has some level of trust issues, and you never know who might think a friendly pretty girl is some kind of threat."

"Really?"

"Really. If you must talk to strangers, let's at least wait until you're spoken to first, okay?"

Anna nodded. "Yes, ma'am." Then she turned to the woman again. "Sorry! See, I didn't know about the morning rush hour etiquette. I've only started learning about stuff like that over the past couple of days…"

The woman, now staring wide-eyed at Anna, took a couple of sidesteps away to put some distance between them.

"And I'll shut up now…" Anna muttered.

Meanwhile, Ingrid felt a squeeze on her other hand. She turned to Elsa and noticed she was blushing. "What's wrong?"

"There's a man behind us…" Elsa said. "I think he's looking at our behinds."

Ingrid smiled. "He probably is. So?"

"So, it's highly improper."

"Men never learn to be 'proper' until they get married and their wives can teach them. I'm pretty sure that man isn't the first person to check out our butts this morning. He's probably just the first one you noticed doing it."

"But no one would have reason to look at us improperly if we were dressed more modestly…"

"That's a myth. Imagination always fills in the blanks. Even if you were wearing a full gown with petticoats and a high collar that man would still be looking at your butt and imagining what it would look like."

"So why is showing outright what it looks like better?"

"It's not better or worse. You're allowed to wear what you want to wear regardless of how others feel about it."

"Then how do you explain you making me wear this?"

"I'm special. I'm your aunt. Look, Elsa, male attention is fleeting. Ignore him and he will eventually find somebody else to ogle."

"I'm not sure I can ignore him…"

"Of course you can. I know what I said yesterday, but you are a queen, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"Then act like it. Stand up straight and tall, be regal and aloof and conduct a royal inspection of that billboard across the platform." Ingrid did just that, taking on a haughty pose and staring straight ahead with her chin raised and her hands behind her back. Elsa immediately followed suit, and then so did Anna to not be left out.

"It's a very colorful billboard," Anna said after a minute.

"It's for a musical play," Ingrid said.

A squeaking and rattling sound came from down the track drawing everyone's gaze. The train was coming. Elsa and Anna, who'd only seen drawings of the earliest steam locomotives back home, were fascinated by the look of the commuter train. It was nothing but a series of silver boxes with people in them, with no steam engine or caboose. Several of the boxes rolled past before the whole train came to a halt.

When the doors opened Ingrid led them through the nearest one. They looked around. All the seats were filled and several people were standing up. Ingrid walked toward the middle of the car and grabbed a metal loop above her head. "Hold onto these or the railings," She told the girls. Elsa grabbed onto a loop and Anna grabbed onto a nearby pole. More people came aboard until almost all of the standing room disappeared. Elsa and Anna looked at each other with raised eyebrows. They'd never been in any vehicle so packed with people before.

Three stops and a shaky, loud ride later, Ingrid was leading them off the train, through the crowd of people and out of the next station. She was walking at a brisk pace that was hard for the girls to match. They kept up as best they could. They followed as Ingrid rounded a corner to the left and caught up as Ingrid slowed in front of a particular entrance. There was a young woman standing in front waiting for them. She was blonde, pretty and slightly buxom.

"Sorry I'm late!" Ingrid called out to the girl. "Had trouble getting out of the house this morning."

"That's okay, boss," the girl said. "I just got here a few minutes ago myself. We still managed to beat the crowds here." Then she spotted Elsa and Anna. "Oh...hello!"

"It's 'Take Your Nieces To Work Day,'" Ingrid said as she dug out her keys. "These are my sister's girls, Elsa and Anna. Girls, this is Ashley, my able manager."

All three girls shook hands and exchanged pleasantries as Ingrid unlocked the padlocks that held the anti-crime gate down, then she touched a button that raised the gate mechanically, revealing the glass storefront.

Elsa and Anna watched the gate go up into its recess, then took a look at the broad picture window that adorned the shop and read what was written there in fancy lettering:

 **INGRID'S**

 **Cafe and Ice Cream Shoppe**

"You sell ice cream too?" Anna said.

"I would think you'd want to sell ice cream all the time," Elsa said.

"Yes," Ingrid said, "but there's near zero profit in ice cream in fall and winter. Coffee makes me money year-round."

"Yes, don't dis The Coffee," Ashley said with mock reverence. "The Coffee is good."

"Metaphorically speaking," Elsa whispered to Anna, making her giggle.

Ingrid unlocked and opened the front door and everybody went inside. Ingrid closed and locked the door again behind them, then she and Ashley turned on the lights and started to get the place ready for the day.

Elsa and Anna marveled at the interior of the store. The soft lighting accentuated an inviting, home-style decor. There was a row of booths against the wall to the left and small table-and-chair sets in a row in the middle. To the right were the registers and service areas, where Ingrid and Ashley were inspecting strange-looking giant pots at the moment. "Looks like they did a good job cleaning up last night, boss," Ashley said.

"All right," Ingrid said, "get the coffees started, will you?" She left the service area and came over to the row of tables. "Girls," she said to Anna and Elsa, "give me a hand with these chairs."

The chairs were all turned upside down and resting on top of their tables. The girls watched as Ingrid returned the first set to the floor and moved in to help set the rest. "I love this place," Anna said as they worked. "It feels like we're in a magical public house!"

"Anna!" Elsa said. "When have you ever been in any kind of public house?"

Anna bit her lip as she suddenly remembered there were some adventures she should never tell Elsa about. "Um...well...never, because _obviously_ I would never go into a place like that...because I'm a princess! But somebody did tell me what one looked like inside once..."

"You know," Ingrid said, "you're not very convincing when you lie like that…"

"I'm beginning to see that," Anna said.

"Anyway, Elsa, don't be too hard on your sister. Every young girl should visit at least one less-than-savory place to round out her life experience. And she's right. Lots of modern establishments have their roots in old world inns and pubs, especially the ones that sell drinks."

"I understand," Elsa said, but the look she shot Anna afterward made it clear they would talk about that "life experience" in detail at another time.

Anna decided to rapidly change the subject. "How long will it take to make the coffee, Aunt Ingrid?"

"Not long at all," Ingrid said. "It's just hot water filtered through ground beans. Ashley's setting up the filters now. By the time we're ready to open to the public we'll have mostly full carafes of Dark Roast, Capuccino and Espresso ready to serve. Plus, we have hot water available to make tea or hot cocoa. That's for people brave enough to admit they don't like coffee."

"Sacrilegde!" Ashley yelled out.

"Yes, yes," Ingrid said, "but even heretics have money to spend and we at Ingrid's will always be happy to take it from them. Glory Halleluia." She said this with a smile that got all the others giggling.

There was a knock at the door. Ingrid hurried over to let three more people in. All of them were young, two women and one male. Ingrid greeted them and introduced them to Anna and Elsa. Tiffany was first. She was a latina with an infectious, friendly smile and a firm handshake. Wendy was a the shy one. She was Filipino and pretty and the shortest person in the place. Max was the biggest surprise. Tall and lanky, he had hair that was short on one side and long on the other. And it was colored. White and pink. Elsa and Anna kept their faces neutral as they met him, but it was difficult.

"All right," Ingrid said, "Tiffany, Max, you guys are on the registers this morning so get signed on. The rest of us will mix drinks."

"Who gets exiled?" Max said.

"Nobody," Ingrid said. "We'll serve ice cream on an as-needed basis…"

"Which will be 'no need'," Tiffany said as she and Max turned on the registers. "It's freezing outside. Only some kind of nut would want ice cream in the dead of winter."

"Tiffany, it's Chicago," Max said. "Nuts are half the population."

"Then they all must be getting their ice cream somewhere else 'cause nobody's bought it here since September."

"I like having ice cream around all the time," Ingrid said, "whether it sells or not. It reminds me of things I miss."

"It just reminds me I'm lactose intolerant," Max said. Everyone but Elsa and Anna laughed.

"Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said, "do you need us to do anything else?"

"No," Ingrid said, "I want you and Anna to take off your coats and sit in that last booth. I'll be right with you."

Elsa and Anna complied and watched from a distance as Ingrid and the others completed their preparations for opening. "Ingrid seems to be quite informal with her servants," Elsa said. "I wonder what they'd think if they knew she was once royalty in Arendelle?"

"I wonder what they'd think if they knew she once had snow powers," Anna said. "Do you think they'd be like that donkey Weaseltown and call her a monster?"

"Maybe not. I think they'd adjust quickly. They spend their lives with so many strange things that they just consider normal that I think snow powers would just be 'one more thing' to them."

Anna nodded, then moved on to another thing she'd been thinking about. "I wonder if Aunt Ingrid made Max do that to his hair…"

"Don't be silly. What reason would she have for making him paint his hair?"

"I dunno. You tell me...you're the one showing off her butt because of Ingrid…"

"So are you!"

"Not me! I have a skirt!"

"A shirt tail stretched over your bottom is not a skirt."

"Is so…"

"Is not…"

"Is so, infinity…"

"Is not infinity squared."

"Can you really square infinity?"

Elsa thought about it. "It's unlikely...mathematically anyway…"

"Oh. That means _I win_!"

Elsa clenched her teeth and said "Shoot!" while Anna did a power dance.

Ingrid came over just then and got their attention. She was wearing a navy blue apron that said "Ingrid's" on the front. The girls took a quick look and realized all the others were wearing them as well. "What did you win?" Ingrid asked.

"An argument with Elsa!" Anna said, grinning.

"On a technicality," Elsa clarified.

"Well, stop arguing technicalities. I've brought over some things for you." Ingrid was holding a cylindrical object in each hand and had her tablet tucked under her left arm. She laid the cylinders on the table, one each in front of Elsa and Anna. There was steam coming out of the little holes in the tops.

"I think I smell chocolate," Anna said.

"Yep," Ingrid said, "you two get the first hot chocolates of the day."

Elsa pointed at the cylinder in front of her. "So these are cups? Or thermoses?"

"Cups," Ingrid said.

Anna touched hers. "I think it's made of paper!"

"It is," Ingrid said. "Heavy paper, glazed so it can hold liquid."

"Wow...paper money, paper cups...I didn't know paper had so many uses!"

"Years ago in the grocery store they would ask what kind of bag you wanted by asking 'paper or plastic?' These days it seems like everything useful in the world is made from one or the other. Go ahead and try your drinks."

Elsa picked up her cup and examined it. "Do we drink it through the hole?"

"Or you can take off the lid. It's up to you."

Both girls opted to drink it through the hole, just for the new experience. After the first sip, Anna said, "It's good, but it's not as rich as the chocolate you have in your house."

"Here we make it with cocoa powder. At home I use real chocolate flakes."

"I bet if you used those chocolate flakes here you'd sell a lot more hot chocolate instead of that coffee stuff."

"The chocolate I have at home comes from New York State and costs me twenty-five dollars a can plus shipping. If I tried to sell it here I'd need to charge ten dollars for the smallest cup just to make a profit. It wouldn't matter how good it tastes. Nobody would buy it."

"Oh...sorry. Just thinking out loud…"

"Well, you go on thinking, and while you are I've brought my tablet to entertain you." Ingrid laid it on the table between them and started a chess app and set it for two players. Soon a chessboard took up the display with white and black pieces already set up.

"Cool!" Anna said. "That looks so real!"

"But obviously it's not," Ingrid said, "but it is chess. Just touch the piece you want to move and the space you want to move it to. Now, girls, it's getting close to opening time and for the next couple of hours I'll be too busy to entertain you, so clobber each other a few times in chess and drink your drinks. If you want more just get my attention and I'll send somebody with refills, okay?"

"Okay," the girls said. Ingrid smiled at them and turned to go back to the counter.

"So, do you want to go first?" Elsa said.

Anna cracked her knuckles. "You bet. It will be my first step toward utterly dominating you in this chess tournament."

"Unlikely," Elsa said as she turned the white pieces toward Anna. "This is the game of kings...and queens. It is not for princesses."

"Oh, yeah? Well this is one princess that's going to whip your queenly butt." With that, Anna moved a pawn forward two spaces.

Twenty moves later, Elsa had Anna checkmated. The next match Elsa did it in fifteen moves. As they reset the game for the next round, Elsa said with a grin, "Now, whose butt is getting whipped, exactly?"

"Three out of five," Anna said with a scowl, "and my shirt _can_ be a dress."

"No, it _can't_ , infinity!" Elsa said triumphantly.

Then their attention was drawn to the front door. Ingrid was unlocking it one final time. The girls watched in awe as a flood of people walked in. Almost all of them said a friendly hello to Ingrid as they passed. Ingrid smiled at them all and returned the greetings for a few minutes before returning to the counter. From then on it was like a parade had been routed through the store. The people just kept coming as Ingrid and her crew took orders and served different hot beverages. The rest of the booths and tables in the place filled with people quickly. Again, it reminded Anna of that public house, though this time she didn't say anything about it to Elsa.

Instead she asked, "What language are they speaking?"

Elsa shrugged. "The same language as Ingrid, I assume…"

"Oh yeah? Well, so are we, and I have no idea what a 'half-caff mocha latte with a pump' is! A pump of what? What are they pumping?"

"I admit...that has me stumped as well…"

"Maybe it's some kind of strange coffee language. Maybe coffee comes from some mysterious kingdom where you can only drink it if you know how to speak the ancient language...or gibberish…"

"Well, we don't have to know it because we can just keep drinking hot chocolate made from the powdered cocoa. Now stop stalling and move. I want to see how quickly I can get checkmate this time."

"Oh, it's on!" The girls turned their attention back to chess, mostly. As they played they couldn't help looking at the still moving line of customers ordering coffee in the strange language. Ingrid and her staff filled orders expertly, with only a few complaints here and there. In those instances Ingrid remade the drinks herself. Most people just ordered coffee, but some also included pastries from the small case at the end of the counter.

It proved to be distracting for both girls, but moreso for Anna, who found herself checkmated two more times and resigning the match after that. The princess grumbled something about stupid tablets and stupid magic mirror chessboards as she set the game up again. Elsa just chuckled softly.

Before Anna could make the first move again, Tiffany came over to their booth with two more steaming cups. "Hey, girls. Ingrid said you might want fresh drinks." She placed the the new cups on the table and gathered up the old ones.

"Is it always this busy?" Anna asked.

"Mostly during rush hour," Tiffany said, confirming what Ingrid had told them earlier. "This will die down in another hour or so, and then we can have breakfast." She turned and headed back to the counter after that.

"Do you think Ingrid will cook breakfast here?" Anna said.

"I doubt she'd have the time," Elsa said, still marveling at the crowd. "Maybe she'll get the others to help."

Just then they heard Ingrid call out, "Sydney!"

They turned to look where Ingrid was standing and saw a tall, dark-skinned man with curly hair and an expensive-looking suit approach her at the counter and grin. "Ingrid, my dear! You're looking twice as lovely as the last time I saw you!"

Ingrid grinned back and said, "That was yesterday, you flatterer."

"Then the feat is all the more impressive," Sydney said, not giving an inch.

"Smooth talker...the usual?"

"If you please."

Ingrid turned to mix the drink herself and engaged Sydney in small talk as she worked. Soon she was handing him a large cup with a domed, clear lid. It had whipped cream under it. Sydney paid for it using a card like the ones they'd seen Ingrid use earlier. After that was done, Ingrid said, "Sydney, my nieces are visiting. Why don't you go say hello?"

She swept a hand toward the booth the girls were sitting in. Sydney turned to look and smiled. "Certainly," he said. He made his way over to their booth and offered a smile and his free hand. "Good morning, girls! I'm Sydney Glass. I'm a friend of your aunt."

The girls shook hands with him. "Elsa Arendelle," Elsa said.

"Anna Arendelle," Anna said.

"Charmed. Have you been in town long?"

"Only a few days," Elsa said.

"Chicago is wonderful. There are plenty of sights for you to see. Some people would have you believe that the best stuff is in New York or L-A, but I wouldn't trade this city for anything."

"Where do you know Aunt Ingrid from?" Anna asked. "Did you meet her here?"

His smile never wavered, but his voice did drop a bit as he said, "No, my dear...we met in Storybrooke."

The girls' eyes widened slightly. "Storybrooke?" Elsa said.

"Yes...I worked with your aunt briefly after we met, and I moved out just before that...nastiness last year."

"Oh…" the girls said.

"Now I live and work here in this beautiful metropolis."

"You work here too?" Anna said.

"Right in this office building. Let me give you my card." He pulled a business card from his coat and handed it to Anna. It read:

 **SYDNEY GLASS**

 **Investigations - Security - Information Services**

"If there's anything I can do for you girls while you're here...anyone you need to find…just give me a call, all right? Now I must be off. Pleasure meeting you." He turned away and headed for the door, waving at Ingrid as he passed. "Until tomorrow, Ingrid," he called to her.

"Bye, Sydney," she called back. "Be good."

"You too, my dear."

When he was gone, Anna examined the business card, then looked at Elsa. "He lived in Storybrooke?"

"And he worked for Ingrid," Elsa said.

"He doesn't look like the type that would work in Ingrid's ice cream shop. Do you think…" her voice lowered to a whisper. "...maybe he did _evil_ things for Ingrid?"

"The real question is 'Is he doing evil things for her _now_?'"

"He seemed nice enough to us…"

"So did Ingrid when we first met her."

The girls turned to look at Ingrid. She'd fallen back into greeting customers with a smile and helping make drinks. At one point she caught them staring and winked at them.

The girls turned back to each other. "We promised we'd take Ingrid at her word," Elsa said. "All we know for certain is that Sydney is someone she knows from Storybrooke. We won't assume anything else."

"Right," Anna said. "He's a nice man who apparently looks for stuff. That's all."

"So...ready to play again?"

Anna huffed and made the opening move she'd been putting off for all that time. This time she managed to hold Elsa to a stalemate. She whooped like she'd won the NBA Finals. The euphoria didn't last long, as Elsa checkmated her in a mere ten moves in the next match.

By that point, the crowd had died down to a few people entering every few minutes. After she served one more drink Ingrid pulled out a notepad and asked her staff questions and wrote down what they said. When that was done she finally came back over to the booth. "You girls doing all right?" She asked.

"We're fine," Elsa said, then just to tweak her sister: "I've been teaching Anna how to play chess."

"I know how to play chess!" Anna shot back.

"She's showing you no mercy, Anna?" Ingrid said.

"I think she's cheating."

"Impossible. The program won't let you move a piece in any illegal way."

"It won't?"

"Nope."

Anna looked at the board. "That explains it…" she muttered.

"Explains what?" Elsa said.

"Why I couldn't…" She gasped and caught herself before finishing that incriminating sentence and rapidly changed the subject. "So...Sydney Glass...he's from Storybrooke?"

Ingrid smiled and said, "Yes...he's from Storybrooke."

"He said he worked with you there," Elsa said.

"Briefly. He provided me with certain information I needed before I cast the spell."

"And he left…"

"I let him leave, for various reasons."

"Right…"

"And just by coincidence," Anna said, "you both ended up in Chicago?"

"I'm not sure it was a coincidnce. I still have no idea why I wound up here. It may have been intended for me to see him again later. My shop had been here for years when he got office space in this building."

"And you're friends now?"

"In a way. Let's say we're a 'Storybrooke Survivors Support Group.' Basically, we help keep each other honest. Now then...are you girls ready for breakfast?"

"Yes, please!" Anna said.

"We were wondering if you were going to make breakfast again today," Elsa said.

"There's no place here for me to do that. No, we're just going to send out for food."

"You can do that? Just like sending for food in the castle?"

"Well, not just like. We're getting it from a store, not a royal kitchen, and instead of a big meal it will just be breakfast sandwiches."

Anna sucked in a ragged breath and pounded on the tabletop, startling Elsa and Ingrid slightly. When she could find her voice, she rasped, "Are you saying...that in this realm...you can have breakfast...in a _sandwich_?"

"My, you do love sandwiches, don't you?" Ingrid said. "Well, yes, that's what I'm saying. You can have breakfast in a sandwich."

Elsa's face scrunched up a little. "That doesn't sound very appetizing, Aunt Ingrid," she said. Of course, the words "breakfast sandwich" made her immediately think of a bowl of porridge overturned onto a bagette half.

"It's not meant to be haute cuisine, Elsa," Ingrid said. "It's convenience food. Everybody I work with gets up too early to have breakfast at home so on days when I'm here we dip into petty cash and everybody gets breakfast sandwiches."

Just hearing the phrase again made Anna gasp again. Then she squealed a little. "El-saaa! Breakfast! In a sandwich! We _have_ to!"

"Well...what is in these breakfast sandwiches?" Elsa said.

"You can have any combination of bread, meat and eggs that you'd like. You can even add cheese and/or hash browns."

Anna blinked. "What are hash browns?"

"Shredded potatoes fried into patties."

"Score! I'm in!"

"Okay, Anna, what would you like?"

"Right, let's see...I want bacon and sunny-side up eggs...can they put that on a sandwich?"

"Of course they can."

"Cool! And I want swiss cheese...can I have swiss cheese?"

"If they have it in stock, you can have it. They'll tell you if they don't."

"Yes! Okay...um...I want the hash browns on it, and I want the same kind of toast you made for us the other day."

Ingrid wrote the order down. "...hash browns in, white toast. Okay, Elsa, what would you like?"

Elsa was thinking about it. "I'm not sure...I don't know what to get...or if I should even get anything…"

"You don't have to. You can have sweets for breakfast. We have plenty of pastries...we just don't have cooked breakfast food."

Elsa nodded, thought a little more, then came to a decision. "I will have sausage and scrambled eggs. I don't want cheese or 'hash browns.' And I would like...do you think they'd have pumpernickel bread?"

"I'm sure they do. I've been there plenty of times. It's a big place."

"Very well...sausage and scrambled eggs on toasted pumpernickel bread."

Ingrid wrote that down. She was about to turn away and choose somebody to go when she got an idea. She turned back to the girls. "Would you two like to go get the food?"

Anna beamed. "Can we?"

"Sure. You can get out of here for a few minutes and get used to walking around the city, and I can keep my people here in case the rush builds up again."

"All right, Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said, "you can count on us."

"Good. Get your things on."

The girls got up and put on their jackets and headgear. When they were ready to go Ingrid handed the paper she was writing on to Anna.

"They're usually busy in the morning too so there will probably be a line. Just get on it together. When it's your turn at the counter give the person there that list and say you're there with Ingrid's breakfast order."

"'Ingrid's breakfast order,'" Anna said. "Got it."

Ingrid reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out three twenty dollar bills and handed them to Elsa. "That should be enough for everything."

Elsa and Anna took a few moments to marvel at the bills. "They feel so flimsy," Elsa said.

"Put those in your pocket, Elsa. You don't want to walk around showing people money." Elsa complied, putting the bills in an inside jacket pocket. Ingrid went on: "You pay for the food once they have it ready for you. No haggling. It's not like the markets back home. Just hand the person the money when they tell you the price and they'll give you the remainder. Then you just come on back." she turned and pointed to the front. "You go out the door, turn left, cross two streets, and the deli is in the middle of that block on your left."

"Delhi?" Anna said. "Like on the subcontinent?"

"No, 'deli,' like short for delicatessen. It's like...a butcher shop for soft meats. Anyway, it's called the Cavalier Deli. You'll see it in the window."

Anna nodded. "Right. We'll remember."

Elsa held out a hand. "Shall we go?"

Anna took the hand in hers. "Absolutely!"

Ingrid watched as the girls walked out of the shop hand-in-hand, then went back to the counter. "Nieces getting the food?" Ashley asked.

"Yep. I thought it would be good for them to experience the city a little."

"I like them," Tiffany said. "They're kind of goofy."

"That they are," Ingrid said, then she turned to look through the front door and said softly, "...and I wouldn't trade them for anything…"

 **TBC...**


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

 **REVIEW RESPONSE:**

Nissan: Nope, I just gave him a cameo here because the actors who play Ingrid and Sydney have been in three TV shows together, so I figured he should be in this fic with her too. :)

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

Elsa and Anna paused in front of Ingrid's shop to stand back and look up to the top of the building. "I wonder how many people there are in there?" Anna said.

"That Mister Glass is up there somewhere," Elsa said. "It looks like hundreds of people could be in there with him."

"I wonder why Ingrid put her shop here on the bottom," Anna said. "If it were my store I'd want to put it at the tippy top so I could look down at the clouds."

Elsa was fascinated. "Can you imagine living at the top of one of these buildings? Ingrid said most of the buildings in the city were for business, but if some people live here, I'm curious to know if they were scared at first to move into a home so high off the ground."

"I would love it!" Anna said. "Then I could lean out my window and call down to my friends on the ground and wave with both my arms!"

"Well, then you'd just fall out of the window."

Anna thought about it. "Oh yeah. I should probably use one to hold on, shouldn't I?"

"That seems prudent. Come on. Ingrid is counting on us to get breakfast." Elsa got a firm grip on her sister's hand and they started off in the direction Ingrid had sent them.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Anna said. "It's like we're on a quest!"

"A Quest for Breakfast?" Elsa said with a giggle.

"Well, it's a silly quest...it's not like slaying a dragon or anything...but still, here we are in a strange city in a strange land with strange people and machines all around us and we're going to a place we've never been before to gather food for our elder and her people."

"When you put it that way it sounds like a wonderfully romantic silly quest."

"Absolutely the best kind! I can't wait to get there! I hope I get to see them make the sandwiches!"

"Why? It's not like you've never seen a sandwich before. I'm sure the procedure will be no more complicated than cooking the food and putting it between pieces of bread."

"Well, yeah, but I've never watched anyone actually make a sandwich before and I've certainly never had one with breakfast in it. I would think something special would go into the process."

"Ah...but what if the special part is something that the people making the sandwiches want to keep secret? What if it's an ancient sandwich-making trick handed down in their family for generations?"

"You don't really think that, do you?"

Elsa giggled. "Of course not! I'm just teasing you. Really, Anna, you shouldn't get so excited. In this realm breakfast sandwiches are just one more normal thing so we have to act like they're perfectly normal things for us as well."

"If you say so…"

"Aunt Ingrid says so, so we have to...oh, look." They were getting near the first intersection and the first street they had to cross.

"We have to go across _that_?" Anna marveled at all the cars speeding from left to right on the road.

"Well," Elsa said, "It's not a real quest without some danger…"

"Maybe, but getting pasted by a driving machine is not my idea of romantic."

"Now now, there must be a way…" She looked up at the traffic lights. "All right...see those lights? When people are driving I've noticed that they pay attention to those lights. When the green light is on, they keep driving, but when the red light is on, they stop."

Anna nodded. "So maybe if we wait for the lights to change the road will clear enough for us to cross."

"I believe so. We just have to wait for the green light facing us to light up."

"Wait…what about the yellow light?"

Elsa frowned. "I'm not sure. That one's confusing. You see, when Ingrid sees yellow she slows down, but I remember in Storybrooke that when Emma saw the yellow light she would go faster."

Both girls pondered that for a moment, then Anna decided, "It must mean that you can use your own judgment when it's lit."

Elsa nodded. "Yes, that must be it. Oh, look. Green, and the cars...oh!"

They hadn't noticed the crowd forming around them at the corner as they waited. Now, the moment the cars stopped moving they were caught up in a small horde of people rushing to get to the other side of the street. The girls rushed as well, trying to keep pace with the group of strangers. The crossing took mere seconds, and once everyone was on the curb on the other side the crowd dispersed as rapidly as it had formed.

Elsa and Anna stood still a moment to catch their breath. "That was unexpected!" Anna said.

"Apparently," Elsa said, "everyone in the city likes to do things in a crowd."

"Apparently! We'd better get going before another one shows up."

The girls giggled and resumed their quest to the deli for breakfast. They'd only gotten a few more steps before something in the air caught Anna's eye. "Elsa, look!"

She pointed at the object, which was moving slowly through the air above one of the shorter skyscrapers. "Is that an airplane?" Elsa wondered aloud.

"It doesn't look like the one we saw earlier," Anna said. "It's got that spinning thing on top of it, and it's totally the wrong shape."

"Oh," Elsa said, "maybe it's that other flying thing that Ingrid said was real...um...heli-something."

"Ohhhh...do you think the helis go up miles in the air like the airplanes?"

"I don't know. I think the only way we can know for sure is to ride on one."

"Are you sure? Ingrid made it sound really scary to fly in a flying machine…"

"Well, she also said people do it all the time, so I guess there's a way to overcome your fears. There would have to be, wouldn't there?"

"Maybe...but I think I'll just go to the top of a tall building to look down from the sky."

"Good idea."

They giggled again and resumed their walk, keeping their gaze earthbound from that moment on. There was still plenty to see. There was nothing so varied and eclectic as the people you might see on a busy city street. The girls commented softly on different styles of clothing and accessories and hairdos. They even traded "good morning" smiles with some of the friendlier passersby.

At the second intersection the girls were ready for the crowd crossing. They watched the streetlight attentively and began walking across as soon as the green light flashed on. The suddenly appearing crowd kept pace with them this time.

After that, it only took a few more minutes for them to reach their destination. The girls took a moment to get a good look at the front window. _The Cavalier Deli_ was printed there much as the lettering at Ingrid's shop, but where the cafe's window pane was clear, the deli's was covered with several bills and ads printed on copier paper and taped onto the glass.

Elsa and Anna were enthralled by the various postings. "Look," Elsa said, "this person is looking for a clean roomate."

"This one's about a bad guy," Anna said. "He stole somebody's purse...and beat them up! We should go find him!"

"And do what?"

"Well, you can freeze him and we can turn him over to the local magistrate."

"Or, we could let the local authorities do their job and stay out of it."

Anna frowned at that, dejected, but the next posting got her going again. "Elsa! Look! It's a missing puppy! We should go find him!"

"Seriously?"

"Or, okay, if you don't want to do it, then we can ask Mister Glass! He finds things, right?"

"Anna, I'm sure Mister Glass has more important things to do with his time than search for a missing...what breed of dog is that, anyway?"

Anna re-read the text. "It says it's a 'pit bull.'"

"What in heaven's name is a 'pit bull?'"

"I don't know! I just know it's cute and its owners miss it."

"Anna, we are not going to go traipsing around an unfamiliar city with two million strangers in it looking for a dog of a breed we've never heard of in our lives, and we are not going to hire Aunt Ingrid's friend to do it for us. I'm sure that whatever Chicago people are in charge of finding lost pets will find this pit bull, so let's just go inside and do what we came here to do, all right?"

Anna nodded, then waved goodbye forlornly at the flyer as Elsa pulled her by hand through the deli front door. They stopped just inside the entrance to take everything in.

"It looks bigger than Ingrid's shop," Anna said.

"But not as fancy…" Elsa said.

The Cavalier Deli was larger, covering about a third more square footage than the cafe, but it was lit with dim track lighting and instead of booths and intimate coffee tables the tables here were industrial and plastic looking. And for all its size it was nowhere near as full as Ingrid's. Still, some people were eating their breakfast here. They couldn't see anyone at the tables wearing a suit, though. Just casual and rough clothes. There was a bank of refrigerator cases along the back wall, with glass doors so you could see the products inside. The service area was to the left, as was the line Ingrid had told them to expect. Here people in rough clothes and suits were mixed together as one by one they ordered food and plain coffee at a parapet-like window.

"I guess that's where we have to go," Elsa said. "Still have the list?"

Anna patted her jacket pocket. "Yep. Still have the money?"

Elsa patted her jacket pocket. "Still do. Let's go over there."

The girls went over and got on the end of the line standing side-by-side. All that was left to do was wait their turn, which meant there was plenty of time for a mind to wander. Anna's, naturally, wandered to familiar things. "When we get home," she thought aloud, "I think we should ask the royal chef to make us breakfast sandwiches."

Elsa scoffed. "You can ask him if you like, but I wouldn't dare. I'm sure he'd be scandalized."

"Well so what? You're the queen. It's not like he can hurt you."

"You say that now, but I don't think being the queen and princess will save us from his wrath if we asked for something so outlandish. Remember when we were really young and we asked for spinach flavored ice cream?"

"He really hit the roof, didn't he? Well, I don't know what he expected...we were little kids, and what little kid doesn't want to improve the taste of spinach somehow?"

"I think that would be his point. We're grown royal women now and shouldn't be asking for such silly things as full breakfasts between pieces of bread."

"Well, then, we'll just have to use logic and reason to convince him how awesome it will be."

"We haven't had any yet. We don't know how awesome it will be."

"Well we had no idea what spinach flavored ice cream would be like before we asked for it back then. We didn't let that stop us."

"Good point."

They waited the rest of the time in silence. It didn't take that long. People were giving orders at one window and waiting for their purchases further along, so it was only a minute before Elsa and Anna reached the order window and found themselves face to face with a man about the size of Wandering Oaken but dressed in a white turtleneck and apron and with a face that made him look like a clean-shaven Santa Claus. He was just as jolly too. He had on a big smile and said to them cheerily, "Good Morning, ladies! What can I get for you today?"

The girls smiled back and Anna said, "Good Morning" as she pulled the order sheet out of her pocket and handed it to him. "This is Ingrid's breakfast order."

"Been waitin' for that…" the counterman muttered, then he handed the slip back to someone in an area blocked from sight and said, "Joe! Ingrid's order is in!"

"Got it," "Joe" called back. Apparently the hidden area was the kitchen. Sounds and smells of cooking wafted out from there. Anna was quietly disappointed that she couldn't see anything.

"You girls must be new," the counterman told them. "How long have you been working for Ingrid?"

"Oh, we don't work for Ingrid," Elsa said. "She's our Aunt."

"We're just visiting with her this week," Anna said.

Surprisingly, this made the man let out a belly laugh. "You're on vacation in _Chicago_ in the middle of winter? What...not enough snow and freezing wind back home?"

Anna and Elsa were unsure of how to respond, so Elsa smiled wide and said haughtily, "Well, sir, I for one think there's never enough snow and cold in the world."

Apparently that was the right thing to say. It made the man laugh again. "Attagirl," he said, "You're absolutely right. Nothing like a good heavy winter to get the blood going. Air always smells better. Listen, tell your aunt Mike says 'Hi,' and meanwhile you can pick up and pay for your order at that window."

The girls thanked Mike and went over to the window to stand in a new line, that of people waiting for their food. "He's very friendly," Anna said, "and I guess he's a friend of Aunt Ingrid's."

"It's odd," Elsa said, "but until today it never occurred to me that Ingrid would have friends - besides Emma, and their relationship is more like a guardian and her ward - yet today, we've met two of them."

"More, if you count the people in her shop," Anna said.

"That makes sense...I thought she was just being overly familiar with the others, but it seems she must consider them friends as well."

"Well, of course her having friends is surprising. The first time we met her she had no interest in friends…"

Elsa nodded. "Just sisters...replacements for the ones she lost. I guess dying and coming back has allowed her to move on from that desire."

"Rough way to do it, though. Personally, I'd want to figure something like that out before I got ripped to shreds by the shards of an evil mirror."

"I'm sure Ingrid feels the same way now."

They smiled at that then resumed waiting in silence as more people got on line behind them and the people ahead picked up orders. As they waited, Elsa tuned in to the conversations around her, wondering what others who'd come to the deli in pairs and groups might be talking about.

That's when she caught this snippet: "...tell me we got here before Ingrid's kid."

Mike, just as friendly as ever, responded, "Sorry, Mrs. Post. Order's in. We should be getting to it momentarily."

Mrs. Post groaned, while her companion said, "Who's Ingrid?"

"This blonde pencil stick that owns some Starbucks wannabe shop up the block," Mrs. Post said. "Every day she's gotta send one of her Stepford children in here to get food for everybody in the place, and that takes ages so that everybody else has to wait a dog's age for their order. Mike, I know you think she's hot, but you gotta break this hold she has over you so that the rest of us can get our food at a decent time."

Mike stayed calm and friendly, but was firm. "Mrs. Post, it's first come-first serve in here and you know it. When you get here early, I help you, right? So why don't you let me help you now and give me your order so I can get it moving for you?"

"Are you sure? Would it help if I wore tighter clothing and talked like a baby doll?"

Mike wouldn't be baited. "All my customers are important to me, Mrs. Post, including you. I just want you to get something good to eat to start your day. Come on, what'll you have?"

So intent was she on hearing this exchange that she was surprised when Anna snatched her hand out of her grip. She turned and found Anna rubbing the hand and staring at her in shock. "Your hand is freezing," Anna whispered to her. "Are you all right?"

Elsa blushed and said, "I'm sorry, it's just...that woman over there...I think she was saying mean things about Aunt Ingrid."

Anna turned to the first window and watched as Mrs. Post and her companion left the order window and started over to the line they were on. "Are you sure?"

"Actually, no...but she was talking about Ingrid and her workers and she sounded like she was insutling them...and it made me upset…"

Anna thought about that, then took Elsa's hand in both of hers and said, "Well, maybe she was, but you don't want to freeze her to death for just being a meanie, do you?"

Elsa blushed harder. "Well...no…"

"See? Just don't worry about it. Let's just get the food and get it back to the shop. You'll see that Aunt Ingrid is fine and some old mean lady won't bother her, right?"

"Right." Talking to Anna helped Elsa calm down and get her powers under control. When her hand warmed up again Anna let go and the two girls went back to waiting for the food in silence. Soon the last person ahead of them got his order.

"Looks like we're next," Elsa said, turning to find Anna had disappeared. She turned her head a few times, trying to see around the whole deli. She couldn't see Anna anywhere. A panic started to build in her chest and she was about to step out of line and start searching...when Anna came trotting back to stand next to her again.

Relieved, Elsa said, "Where did you go?"

Anna smiled. "Oh, I just had to…"

Before she could finish, someone called out, "Ingrid's!" This was a younger man who had been giving people their food at the second window. The girls stepped closer and he said, "$43.70" as he rested a large plastic bag on the counter. Inside was a white paper bag full of food.

Elsa dug the money out of her pocket and handed it to the man. "This should be enough," she said.

"More than," he said with a smile, then he took the three twenties to a machine like the ones in Ingrid's, pressed some buttons, then he put the money into a drawer and took other money out, bills and coins. This he handed to Elsa. "$16.30's your change. Have a good day, ladies."

Anna took the bag as Elsa thanked the man. She hugged it lightly to her chest and giggled at how warm it felt. The girls left the deli then, quest almost completed.

Once they were outside, Elsa asked again, "What happened to you? Where did you go?"

"I just had to tie some shoelaces," Anna said.

Elsa glanced at Anna's boots. "Anna, your shoes don't have laces."

Anna smirked. "I didn't say they were _my_ laces…"

* * *

"Mrs. Post!" The man at the delivery window called out.

"Finally," Mrs. Post huffed. She took one long stride toward the counter...or tried to, since the way her shoes had been tied together didn't allow for such a thing, and she ended up planting her face in the counter's sneeze cover.

* * *

"Anna!" Elsa scolded as they reached the intersection. "You shouldn't have done that!

"She insulted House Arendelle," Anna said, in full GoT mode. "She had to be punished."

"But you wouldn't let me freeze her?"

"Well, we didn't have to do anything permanent. She just needed to be taught a lesson."

Elsa chuckled and gave up. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Well, whatever you decide, let's get the sandwiches back to the shop first."

* * *

"Yayy, food!" Tiffany called out when Elsa and Anna entered the shop. That got all the employees and Ingrid clapping, The girls grinned and bowed as they brought the food to the counter.

When everyone settled down ingrid stepped from behind the counter and went over to the shop's much smaller refrigerated case and grabbed three small orange juices. "Follow me, girls," she said to Elsa and Anna, then to Ashley: "I'll be back up soon and we can get everybody down to eat."

"'Kay, Boss!" Ashley called back.

Ingrid led Elsa and Anna past the bathrooms to a door marked "Employees Only." That opened up on a staircase that in turn brought them down to a hallway with four doors. They walked past the first one to the second, which was open. Inside was a small room with a table and chairs, a coffee maker, a microwave and a small TV. "This is the break room. Anna, put the bag on the table."

"Are we going to eat in here?" Anna asked as she complied.

"No, we'll get our sandwiches and eat in the office." Ingrid opened the bag and started sorting out the sandwiches inside. "Let's see...ah! This one's yours, Anna."

"Yes!" Anna did a fist pump and took the wrapped sandwich with a big grin on her face. "I can't wait to dig into this!"

"Just a few more minutes, dear...oh! Did you have any trouble getting everything?"

"No," Elsa said, "they didn't tell us they didn't have anything...and here." She took out the change and handed it over to Ingrid.

"You keep that," Ingrid said. "Share some with your sister, so you both have some money in your pockets."

"Okay." Elsa kept the ten dollar bill for herself and handed Anna the rest.

"Wait," Anna said, "I think you have more than me…"

"I do," Elsa said, "but you get the coins."

"Well, okay, but why do you automatically get more?"

Elsa grinned. "Older sister privilege."

Anna huffed. "There's no such thing!"

"Actually," Ingrid said, "as an older sister myself I can attest that there really is such a thing. Here's your sandwich, Elsa."

"Thank you," Elsa said as she took her sandwich.

"Hey!" Anna said. "We're still talking about his older sister privilege thing!"

"No we're not, because I'm the aunt and I claim aunt privilege." With that, Ingrid found her sandwich and led the girls to the third door, marked "Office." Inside was like the office in Ingrid's home, only smaller and messier. Ingrid sat at the desk and motioned for the girls to sit in the two guest chairs. Then she passed out the OJ's and everybody began to unwrap their food.

"What did you get in your sandwich, Aunt Ingrid?" Anna asked.

"Canadian bacon, fried eggs and American Cheese on a French Roll. I call it the international."

Anna nodded, then unwrapped her sandwich and looked at all the things packed between two pieces of toast. She moaned lustfully and muttered, "There are no words…"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at that, then examined her own sandwich and frowned. "This is not what I asked for," she said.

"I'll eat it!" Anna said immediately.

"No," Ingrid said, "If it's wrong we'll take it back and get a new one. What's wrong, Elsa?"

"I asked for sausage. This ...meat...is not sausage."

Ingrid stood and leaned over the desk to see for herself. "Oh...that _is_ sausage."

"It is?"

"It's a sausage patty. Imagine a sausage link the length of this desk and as wide around as a slice of bread. You wouldn't put that whole link in one sandwich, so you cut it into thin slices."

"Oh…"

"Still willing to eat it!" Anna piped up.

"I didn't say I wouldn't eat it. I was just confused." With that, Elsa took a tentative bite of the sandwich. The concern on her face departed immediately. "My goodness...that is good."

That inspired Anna to take a huge bite of her sandwich. She moaned again, then said, "It's like a party in my mouth!"

Ingrid forced herself not to laugh at that statement and started in on her own food.

They ate in silence until they'd all finished about half a sandwich and half a juice, then Ingrid said, "There's a reason I wanted you to eat in here with me. I have another confession to make."

"I hope it's not like the one you made this morning," Anna said.

"Nothing so dire...it's just that I get that you two have had Storybrooke on your minds since you got here, and I wanted to surprise you, so yesterday I tried to get in touch with Emma."

Both girls went wide-eyed. "You talked to Emma!?" Anna said.

"What did she say?" Elsa said. "Is she all right?"

"Hold on…I didn't actually talk to Emma. I tried to reach her because I wanted to set up a Skype appointment later so you could see her and talk to her, but I only know how to reach her through her parents. I could only get David, and all he would say was that Emma was 'unavailable.'"

"What does that mean?" Anna said.

"In Storybrooke? It probably means that she got sucked into another dimension and has to slay a dragon before she can come back. There's no telling."

The girls were immediately heartbroken at that. "I hope she'll be all right," Anna said.

"She will be," Elsa said. "You should have been with her as long as I was. You'd be sure. Wherever she is, whatever she has to overcome, she will."

"I agree," Ingrid said. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just don't like dealing with that town at all...but, now that you're here with me I intend to do it again today."

"You'll try and talk to Emma again?"

"Something less enjoyable. Today I want to get some insight into the portal that brought you back here, and there are only two people in that town with the knowledge I need…"

"Ugh, not that Rumplestiltskin guy again," Anna groaned.

"He'd be one, but no, definitely not, because he'd demand payment for the information. We have to talk to somebody who will tell us what we need to know just for the pleasure of getting rid of us." Ingrid dialed a number on the office phone and put the device on speaker. There was an answer after a couple of rings.

"Regina Mills…"

"Regina, can you tell who this is?"

A pause, then a huff, then, "Yes I can. David told me you called yesterday. Aren't you dead?"

Ingrid smiled. "I was. I got better."

"Which means I can't even count on death to get rid of my problems permanently. Good to know...now what do you want?"

"I need to pick your brains…"

"I like my brains un-picked at. Can't you ask Gold?"

"I could, if you're so sure you don't know what I need…"

"Save the reverse psychology...just ask me."

"It's about my nieces. They're here with me now…"

"Who...Flurries and Pigtails?"

Anna and Elsa looked at each other with that.

 _Flurries?_ Elsa mouthed.

 _Pigtails?_ Anna mouthed.

Regina huffed, "Please tell me the blonde one isn't responsible for the six inches of snow that got dumped on my town over the weekend."

Ingrid sighed. "No, Regina, that was a natural snowstorm, and frankly if you didn't want snow dumped on it you should have put 'your' town someplace warmer, like Florida."

"And have it surrounded by toothless retirees? No, that really would be a curse. Look, I don't have a lot of time so…"

"I'll get to the point. It's how the girls got here that's bothering me."

"Well, where is 'here' exactly? Where are are you calling from?"

"Chicago."

Another pause, and this time soft rustling sounds, likely Regina sitting down. "Okay...tell me."

Elsa and Anna stayed quiet as Ingrid told their story to Regina, from the first sighting of Gerda's spirit in Arendelle to their emergence in the LaBagh Woods.

Regina listened without interrupting, then almost immediately said, "Well, I can tell you what it sounds like: A Hero's Lure Spell."

"Dark Magic?" Ingrid said.

"On the contrary," Regina said. "It's light magic's equivalent of sending in the Navy Seals."

"You lost me."

"If you'd been a villain longer I wouldn't have to explain it. You see, the powers of Good in the universe like to use pure-hearted mortals to fight evil, but those powers are also kind of preachy, so they usually like to make those heroes go on a quest...you know, walk a thousand miles, find the flower, guard the soothsayer, whatever it takes to teach a lesson on the way to beating the villain, right?"

"Right. With you so far…"

"Okay, well sometimes the evil that needs to be put down is so powerful and so immediate that a typical quest would take too long to complete, so the powers use the Hero's Lure to get the heroes into the fray ASAP. You start by showing the hero his or her heart's desire, a soul mate, a valuable prize…"

"A lost loved one…" Ingrid said.

"Exactly, and that image is used to lure the hero into a portal that takes them right to where they need to be."

"Which is why the portal brought them to Chicago…"

"...and not Storybrooke, which would have made more sense. Whatever the problem is, it's in your neck of the woods."

"Well, that's great. That means we have a mystery to solve. We have no idea why the girls were brought here."

"Well the first clue is where they landed. What's in this LaBagh place?"

"Nothing magical. It's a nature preserve. It's close to the highway I was on when I was driving home the other night."

"Wait...the portal dropped your two nieces in a part of the state of Illinois where you would be most likely to pick them up on your way home at night?"

"I'm guessing that's not a coincidence?"

"Not even close, Dairy Queen. It means you're the focal point of the spell."

"How?"

"It's one of two things. Be honest now...are you planning something devious for the people of Chicago? Something huge? Gonna break all the windows in the Hancock Tower and do Shattered Sight on a grand scale?"

"Regina, I swear, I'm just a mortal, small business woman trying to make a living in the big, bad city."

"Hmmm...if that's true, then it's the other thing. If you're not the evil the girls are here to fight, then you're the innocent they have to protect _from_ the evil."

The temperature in the ofice dropped a couple of degrees then, and it had nothing to do with Elsa or the weather outside. "Really?" Ingrid managed to say.

"Really. Whatever the problem is, Ingrid, it's coming for you, and the powers that be think you need Snow Queen Junior and her plucky sidekick to save you from it."

"Well...thank you for that insight, Regina."

"You're welcome. Feel free to give me a call if the girls succeed…"

"Wait, Regina, one more thing…"

"What is it, Ingrid?"

"How can I get in touch with Emma?"

* * *

In Storybrooke, in the Mayor's Office, Regina Mills glared at the phone before finally saying, "Emma is unreachable at the moment. I'll be sure to tell her you called." Regina hung up the phone then, not wanting to speak to Ingrid any more. She settled back into her desk chair and contemplated the events of the past few weeks.

Ultimately, she unlocked the secret drawer in her desk and pulled out the crooked dagger she'd hidden there. She stared at it sadly, eyes fixed on the name engraved in the blade:

 **EMMA SWAN**

 _You want to talk to Emma, Ice Queen?_ She thought. _Just say her name three times. That ought to do it._ Then it occurred to her: What if that's not necessary? What if the Arendelle Sisters were there because Emma was on her way to pay her old foster mother a visit?

Regina sighed because there was no way of knowing without summoning Emma herself, which she wasn't ready to do yet. Instead she picked up the phone again and called David. "She just called me...yep, I'm sure it's really her...I don't think she knows anything about what's happening with Emma, but it's possible she'll find out…"

* * *

Back at Ingrid's, an awkward pause followed Regina's breaking off the call. Elsa broke the silence with an emotional "Aunt Ingrid…"

"Now, let's not panic…" Ingrid started.

Anna cut her off. "We have to protect you!" She cried.

"We don't know that…"

"Is there anyone you know that might want to hurt you?" Elsa asked.

"Is it that Mister Glass?" Anna said. "Do you think he's all evil again?"

"No, of course not. Sydney would never…"

Anna gasped. "It's her! The mean old lady in the deli!"

"Mrs. Post?" Elsa said.

"I bet she wants to kill Aunt Ingrid so she'll stop getting breakfast sandwiches there and she can get her own breakfast sandwiches faster!"

"Well, there must be more to it...but she was insulting…"

"And mean! I should have let you freeze her after all!"

Ingrid had had enough. "Nobody's freezing anybody!" When she had the girls' attention, she continued in a calmer tone. "First of all, Mildred Post is just a jealous old bitty who thinks her husband is seeing me behind her back just because he gets his coffee here in the morning. She's annoying, but harmless. Second, Regina could be wrong…"

"But you said you wanted to ask her about the portal because she knows about magic," Anna said.

"No, what I wanted was insight. It's true, she knows a lot of magic, but everything she knows she learned from Gold, and he didn't teach her everything he knows, and they both only know dark magic. If it's true that the spell that sent you here is light magic, then all she knows about it really is what happened when she was on the receiving end of it."

"Do you think so?" Elsa said.

Ingrid nodded. "She said it herself: If I'd been a villain longer I might have already known about the spell, which says to me that her main experience with it is having some hero magically appear out of thin air just in time to foil one of her plans. The rest might be conjecture, or hearsay. She may know the purpose of the spell, but may be wrong about the details."

"How can we be sure?" Anna said.

"Just look what happened. According to her you should have been dropped right in evil's path, right? Are you still worried I might be evil?"

The girls looked at each other, then looked sheepishly at Ingrid. "No, we aren't…" Elsa said.

"We're sorry if we were really suspicious…" Anna said

"That's all right...but think about it: if I wasn't evil when you appeared, then there should have been something else in the woods that night that I needed protection from, or, something should have happened that would have prevented me from going to that spot in the woods, but I was drawn to you, and there wasn't anything else there but snow and wind, right?"

"True…" The girls said.

Ingrid shrugged. "I'm willing to believe it was light magic that brought you here, but I want more than Regina's word to go by that it means anything dangerous is going to happen to me, especially considering I've already died once. There isn't much more anybody can do to me. Now, let's all relax and finish our breakfast, and I'll set you up so you can entertain yourselves in the break room while I go back to work."

They went back to eating in silence and finished their meals, then Ingrid took them back to the break room and showed them how to start the chess game and start movies on her tablet before heading back upstairs. When they were alone they tried to start another chess tournament, but this time they were both too distracted to play well.

"Aunt Ingrid's going to be all right, isn't she?" Anna asked.

Elsa shrugged. "What she said makes sense. It's possible Regina is wrong about the spell…"

"Maybe...but I can't shake the feeling that Ingrid was trying to make herself believe it as much as she wanted us to…"

 **TBC...**


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

Tiffany and Ashley arrived in the break room a few minutes after Ingrid left. They said a perfunctory hellos to Elsa and Anna before digging into the bag to retrieve their breakfasts. Ashley found hers first and went to give it thirty seconds in the microwave. While Tiffany waited to do the same, she peeked over Anna's shoulder at the tablet screen. "Who's black?" She asked.

"I am," Elsa said.

"Do you play chess?" Anna said.

Tiffany nodded. "My grandmother taught all us kids."

Ashley's sandwich was done then, so Tiffany turned to warm hers. As she did, Anna said, "And you're not royalty of any kind are you?"

Tiffany chuckled at that. "Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Well, my big sister seems to think only properly royal people should be playing the great game of Chess."

"Don't be silly. Anybody can learn how to play chess. There's whole tournaments full of enthusiasts."

"Yep," Ashley added. "Even little kids and computers have won championships."

Anna turned to Elsa and smiled triumphantly. "So...anybody can learn to play the game well."

"Yeah, but…" Tiffany took another look at the screen. "...your sister's got you checkmated in four moves."

Anna's eyes snapped back to the screen as a smile crawled across Elsa's face. "Maybe you should get 'anybody' to tutor you…"

Anna glared at Elsa and hit the "resign" button on the screen as Tiffany and Ashley sat down to eat, laughing.

Elsa decided to satisfy her curiosity while Anna reset the chessboard. "How long have you worked for our aunt?" She asked the others.

"Five years," Tiffany said.

"Six for me," Ashley said.

"Is she a good boss?" Anna said. "She's not really evil to you is she?"

"Of course not!" Ashley said.

"Ingrid's the best," Tiffany said. "It's not just the free breakfast in the morning. She's just a great person."

"Don't tell me she mistreats you two," Ashley said. "I'd never believe it.

"Well…" Anna said.

"Our experience with her is...limited," Elsa said. "We've barely known her for one year."

Tiffany suddenly seemed to understand. "I get it. Your mother is the one that stopped talking to Ingrid back when, right?"

"Right…" Elsa said.

"And I bet she regrets that now, so as a peace offering one day she just packed you up and shipped you off to stay with your crazy aunt in America, am I right?"

Elsa and Anna traded surprised looks, then they turned and smiled at Tiffany. "Kinda, yeah…" Anna said. Elsa nodded.

"Well, you can relax," Ashley said. "You're aunt's not crazy. In fact she's one of the clearest-thinking people I know."

"And definitely one of the nicest," Tiffany said. "She doesn't rule this place with an iron fist. She won't browbeat you or humiliate you when you make a mistake. And you can tell when things make her angry, but you can also see her keeping herself calm, like she's afraid of what she might do to someone she's really mad at."

"I can just imagine…" Anna muttered, remembering her stay in Arendelle's dungeon.

"The point is Ingrid is one of the few people I've ever met that's able to consider a total stranger's needs before her own."

"She hired us a both at time when people were using Obamacare as an excuse to downsize," Ashley said.

"Obamacare?" Anna said.

"That's our national health care system," Tiffany said. "All the Republican haters here dump on it. I bet you don't have to worry about that back home…"

Anna was stuck for an answer, so she turned to her big sister. Elsa smiled wide and said, "Tiffany, I can honestly say I've never heard anyone back home complain about national health care."

 _Good one!_ Anna mouthed.

It also must have satisfied Tiffany because she simply went on. "Ingrid doesn't let negativity like that stop her. She's always telling us she likes having a bunch of smart kids around her to work with."

"And she does a bunch of charity work," Ashley said, "and she's just so civic minded." Then she leaned in and got conspiratorial. "Say...can you guys keep a secret?"

"Yes," Elsa and Anna said.

Ashley grinned. "I have the biggest girl-crush on your aunt…"

"That's not a secret," Tiffany complained.

"It's not?"

"Please...now that you told them the only person in this building that doesn't know you're crushing on Ingrid is Ingrid."

"Well I don't want _her_ to know! What if she's weirded out about it?"

"Oh, but you're not worried about weirding out her nieces?"

"Well they know where I'm coming from…" She turned to the sisters. "Right? Hasn't there been someone in your lives who inspired you and uplifted you so much that you just...wanted to be around her all the time?"

This time Elsa and Anna glanced at each other and smiled before Elsa answered Ashley. "Kinda, yeah…"

Ashley settled back in her chair and said to Tiffany, "There, see? I feel totally vindicated."

"Shut up and eat," Tiffany said.

With that, Tiffany and Ashley went back to their breakfast sandwiches while Elsa and Anna went back to their chess. Soon the baristas were done and headed back upstairs, soon to be replaced by Wendy and Max. Elsa engaged them in the same conversation as before and she and Anna learned even more about what a good person Ingrid was in this realm, including her advocacy for what Max called the LGBT community, which meant nothing to the girls but apparently was something that raised Ingrid's esteem in both baristas' eyes.

When they had the break room to themselves again, Elsa and Anna stopped playing and thought about everything they'd heard. "I feel kind of horrible," Anna said. "We spent so much time thinking Ingrid is some kind of supervillain and all the time she's been single-handedly trying to make this realm a better place."

"She helps the poor, she mentors young people, she champions causes," Elsa said, "and all without magic powers. And she's done absolutely nothing to us since we arrived…"

"Except feed us…" Anna said.

"...and clothe and shelter us." Elsa said.

"What are we doing here, Elsa? Ingrid is a good, caring person and our family, and we just found out today that she might be in danger! We've got to do something!"

"But we don't even know what the danger is, and Ingrid said there might not be any danger at all."

"But what if she's wrong, and what if that Regina lady is…" She stopped suddenly as a thought struck her and took hold. "Wait...what if that Regina lady is both right _and_ wrong?"

"I don't follow," Elsa said.

"Remember what I said about going to get the food?"

"What...that we were on a quest?"

"What if we _are_ on a quest? Think about it. The powers of good would either send us on a quest or send us directly to fight the evil using that Lure spell. Now where we're from, the evil would be something we'd automatically get. It's a dragon, it's a sorcerer, it's an evil knight...but what if it's _here_ , and what if whatever it is is so beyond our experience that we have to learn about this realm to understand it?"

Elsa smiled in understanding. "The Hero's Lure didn't bring us straight to the evil. It brought us to our _quest_ , and our quest is to learn everything we can about this realm before we have to face the evil."

"And Ingrid isn't just the innocent we have to protect...she's our _guide_!"

"Little sister, sometimes you're a genius!"

"Hey! Whaddya mean 'sometimes?'"

The girls chuckled at that, then Elsa said, "You realize how this changes things. We can't even think of going back to Arendelle now. We have to stay in this realm as long as it takes to learn what we need to learn and fight whatever evil we must fight."

"And we have to stick close to Ingrid. Whether she thinks there's a danger or not, we have to be ready to keep her safe at all times. Arendelle will just have to do without us until we get back."

"It should be fine. Kai will manage the kingdom in my absence. There are contingencies already in place, and we know how to get back as soon as the danger is over."

Anna nodded. "The portal in the author's house in Storybrooke. We just have to convince Ingrid to take us there when the time is right,"

"Exactly...maybe there's a train that goes there?"

"But what if it's crowded? I don't want to stand up all the way to Storybrooke! I still think we should fly there…"

"Six miles off the ground?"

Anna shrugged. "Just...don't look down?"

They giggled at that, then decided to try and watch one of Ingrid's movies. They picked The Martian because they didn't know there were Martian people and wanted to see what they were like. They didn't understand half of what was going on, but they watched it all the way through because the Martian guy was funny.

* * *

They didn't see Ingrid again until a while after the movie was done and they had resumed their chess tournament. It was around noon and Ingrid came down to get them and take them to lunch. The trio went right back to the Cavalier Deli and this time sat down there to eat lunch sandwiches, spending a half hour before heading back to the coffee shop.

Ingrid's work day ended at Two. About five minutes prior she and the girls gathered their things and said their goodbyes to the other staff, then Ingrid led them out the door. "You two still have your Ventra cards?" She asked.

"Still do." Elsa said.

"Yep!" Anna said. "Back on the train?"

"Yep!" Ingrid said.

"I hope we can get a seat this time…"

"We should be able to. The evening rush doesn't start for another two hours. Of course we still might get caught in it. We're not going home yet."

"We're not?" Elsa said.

"Nope. We're going shopping!"

"More clothes?" Anna beamed.

"More clothes."

"Woo-hooo!"

"Can we get dresses this time?" Elsa pleaded.

"Be adventurous, Elsa…" Ingrid said.

"I can be adventurous in a dress. I promise."

The train brought them to within walking distance of what Ingrid described as a "department store," a place where several markets functioned under one roof. The girls gawked at everything until Ingrid got them into the Women's Apparel section, where they proceeded to act the way young girls all over the world did when faced by racks of new clothing. When the dust settled, after all the oohing and aahing and trying on and modeling were done, the Arendelles walked out of the store with enough mix-and-match seperates for five outfits each, sneakers and high-heeled pumps, purses and one dress apiece - which made Elsa happy - with knee length skirts - which made Elsa pout.

They managed to catch a train back just after the evening rush started, so there were seats available. They took it all the way back to the stop by the parking garage. From there they retrieved Ingrid's truck and were on their way back to Evanston and home.

As she pulled into evening traffic, Ingrid said, "We'll stop and get something for dinner on the way home."

"More sandwiches?" Anna said, smiling at the idea.

"You've had enough sandwiches today, young lady. No, there are a few places to get an actual meal near the house. Anyway, I hope you two weren't too bored today."

"Actually, I think we had fun, Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said. "I liked meeting all your friends and colleagues."

"And I loved seeing all the tall buildings." Anna said. "I think you should move your store to the top of that really tall one you showed us this morning instead of leaving it at the bottom of the other one."

"Sweetie, most of my sales depend on me selling stuff to the people on the way to the top of the building it's in. If I put it at the top I'd be out of business."

"Oh. Right. Didn't think of that…"

"You must forgive Anna," Elsa said. "I'm afraid she's still a little dazed from all the beatings she took at chess today."

"Ooh! So smug!" Anna snapped.

"Don't worry, Anna," Ingrid said. "You'll have plenty of time to get revenge tomorrow, and you can snoop around the house some more if you like. And, at dinner, we can discuss getting you to Storybrooke and finding a way to get you back to Arendelle."

Ingrid's eyes were on the road, so she didn't see the girls panic slightly. Elsa recovered first. "Um...Aunt Ingrid, we were thinking that we might like to join you again tomorrow."

"You would?" Ingrid said.

"Oh...yes!" Anna said. "We want to learn everything about running a coffee shop!"

"Everything, huh? That could take a long time. Aren't you in a hurry to get back?"

"The kingdom will keep without us," Elsa said. "We should take advantage of this opportunity. Maybe mother sent us here to really get to know each other, so let's do that."

Ingrid smiled at that. "I'd like that."

"Yay!" Anna said. Then: "Wait...does that mean we have to get up heinously early again tomorrow?"

That got Ingrid and Elsa laughing. "Yes, dear," ingrid said through chuckles, "We must get up heinously early again tomorrow."

Anna's moan at that got everybody giggling.

 **TBC...**


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Hey, just wanted to pick your brains a little. I appreciate the reviews but I wanted to get everyone's overall opinion of my depiction of Ingrid. Do you love her? Hate her? Are you sitting there thinking: "What's all this drivel about Ingrid? Why isn't Emma in this dang story! It's supposed to be Elsa and Emma friendship! WHERE'S FREAKING EMMA?"

I ask because this is obviously becoming more Ingrid's story than anybody else's, so I figure it would be a good idea to find out what everybody's feeling about her. Just asking you to think about that when you craft your next reviews.

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

The next morning the girls got up more readily and got dressed more swiftly, so Ingrid felt less rushed getting to the cafe. As such, she drove at a slower pace and used the travel time to begin their education in running the shop. She started by explaining that the strange "coffee language" Anna and Elsa had heard yesterday was really a verbal shorthand used to order drinks. She told them a few of the definitions on the highway, though they wouldn't be using them today. Their duties this day would consist mainly of cleaning up and offering refills to seated customers. Also, since they'd done such a good job of it their first time, it would be their assignment to get breakfast sandwiches each morning they were working.

The day was busy for the girls. The cafe was full or mostly full for the whole shift, which meant lots of refills, constant sweeping up, wiping down and emptying of garbage. Anna and Elsa appreciated the half-hour break they got near noon, which felt a lot shorter today than it did yesterday. To maximize their time, they snacked on hot chocolate and the pastries available instead of going to the deli with Ingrid.

Their workday ended when Ingrid's did, at two o'clock, and the girls expected to head straight home after their first busy day, so they were surprised when Ingrid said they had more shopping to do. The trio walked uptown a few blocks until they reached an establishment called a "mobile store." Anna and Elsa marveled at a place made solely to sell little magic mirrors. Ingrid bought two of the devices before they headed out.

At home, while dinner was cooking, Ingrid unpacked and activated the phones. The girls watched in fascination as Ingrid manipulated them in turn, paying particular attention when she raised each device to her face, smiled at it and made it click. When she was done with the little machines she handed one each to Anna and Elsa.

"Okay," Ingrid said, "these are your phones. You have limited internet access and a few features, but they're mainly for emergencies. If I'm not nearby and you need my help, you can call my phone with these. There's a little picture on the screen labeled 'Contacts.' Touch it."

The girls complied. The phones displayed their Contacts screens. Each one showed its owner's name and the phone's number, 911 and Ingrid's name.

"Now touch my name."

They did. Now the screen showed an image of Ingrid smiling at them as well as her number and the label "Aunt."

"When you want to call me just tap the number under my name. I always have my phone with me so I should answer immediately, but if for some reason I don't and it's a dire emergency, dial 911 and tell the person who answers who you are and where you are, and answer any question they have, even if it means telling your secrets. Got it?"

"Got it," the girls said, then they grinned at each other and tapped Ingrid's number simultaneously. Ingrid sighed as her phone rang, then she went to retrieve it from her purse and rejected both calls.

"That's what I get for giving two young girls phones…" she muttered. Anna and Elsa giggled, then Ingrid held up her phone and said, "Smile pretty." The girls put their heads together and smiled and Ingrid made her phone click and manipulated it the way she had the others. When she was done she showed the girls the screen. "Now you're in my contacts."

There was an image of the girls smiling from the phone's display along with the numbers from their phones. "This is wild!" Anna said. "And we can use these to talk to you from anywhere in the world?"

"Well, anywhere in the states," Ingrid said. "They're pay as you go phones."

Anna suddenly had a thought. "I wonder if I could go back in time and talk to myself over the phone like you did?"

"Only if your earlier self had access to a phone...and, you know, you could actually travel back in time. Why? Would you go back to last year and warn yourself about little old me?"

Anna shrugged. "I'd be real nice about it…"

Ingrid just shook her head and continued to teach them about the phones. "Now, each of these comes with a charger…" She gave one to each of them. "You put this end in this hole in the phone and put the other end in an outlet on the wall. That will fill the phone's battery with electricity. I want you to do that each night before you go to bed, so they'll be fully charged by morning, okay?" The girls nodded. "Good, now put these in your room and come back down to the living room."

The girls complied, running their phones up to the bedroom and plugging them into the same outlets as the nighttable lamps. When they came back down they found Ingrid in the living room linking the TV to her tablet again. "I thought we could watch a movie while we're waiting for dinner," Ingrid said.

"Cool!" Anna said. "Star Wars again?"

"Yes and no. We're going to watch the next chapter in the series."

"Woo-hoo!" Anna said. She and Elsa sat on the same couch again and waited for Ingrid to start the film. This time there was no 20th Century Fox monument, but the "Lucasfilm" emblem had fanfare all on its own. Then the blue words came and went, and Anna and Elsa felt a thrill up their spines as the symphony music and the words "Star Wars" heralded the next adventure.

As before, Elsa read the chapter introduction closely, noting that they were watching "Episode V." She blinked when two words caught her full attention. "'Ice world?'" She said. "There are ice worlds?"

Ingrid grinned. "In movies and in real life. In this movie it's covered with the deepest, most beautiful soft snow...so of course this movie's my favorite of the series."

Elsa squealed a little bit at the idea.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Of course, two snow queens would go goofy over an ice world…" she huffed.

"Says the princess obsessed with sandwiches," Elsa shot back.

"At least you can eat sandwiches! You can't eat snow!"

"What about snow cones?" Elsa said with a triumphant smile.

"Girls, you're missing it," Ingrid said. The girls turned their attention back just in time to see the Imperial probe droid hover out of the snow and begin its search. Then they watched quietly until the scene switched to the Imperial Command Ship and then to Darth Vader staring out of the viewport at patrolling TIE fighters.

"OOH! He's back!" Anna said, both fearful and excited.

"I hope he doesn't catch the princess again," Elsa said.

They watched as a clean shaven officer reported to one with a mustache. The two men argued over the report, drawing Vader's attention. The clean shaven officer told Vader what he told the other one.

Vader didn't argue. "That's it!" He proclaimed in his scary voice. "That's the rebel base!"

The mustachioed officer replied in an overly patient tone, "My Lord, there are so many uncharted settlements. It could be smugglers, or perhaps…"

"The rebels are there," Vader said, "and Skywalker is with them." He turned to the first clean shaven officer and said, "Set your course for the Hoth system!" Then turned to another and said, "General Veers, prepare your men!"

"He seems upset," Anna said of Mr. Mustache after Vader and Veers stalked off. "Is there going to be trouble because Vader didn't listen to him?"

Ingrid grinned evilly. "Not for _Vader._ "

"It almost seems like you admire him, Aunt Ingrid." Elsa said.

"Let's just say I can empathize with his single-minded goals."

"I think you're jealous because you weren't as scary as him when you were evil," Anna teased.

"Am not...and I was plenty scary!"

"You were," Elsa said, "but she's right. You were nowhere near as scary as Darth Vader."

Ingrid frowned. "Fine. Next time I turn evil I'll be sure to be 'Darth Vader' scary, all right?"

"All right," The girls said with grins of their own. It made Ingrid laugh.

Later, when Vader force-choked Mr. Mustache to death and promoted Captain Piett to Admiral, Ingrid thought about it. "You're right. I was never _that_ scary."

* * *

The next day went much the same way as the last. The Arendelle women got up early and headed into work, where Anna and Elsa cleaned, delivered drinks and ran errands, then they left at two. No shopping this time. They went straight home, where Ingrid explained more about their cell phones, explaining things like the internet, e-mail and Twitter. For dinner Ingrid ordered chinese food, which they ate while they watched _Return of The Jedi_.

On the third day, Anna and Elsa met _her_.

It was around Eleven, AM and a quiet moment in the day. Elsa had excused herself to the bathroom. While she was washing her hands, she wondered idly how long it might be before whatever was threatening Ingrid would show itself, and whether or not she and Anna would be ready to face it. They'd learned much about this world, but their education was scarce about real-life villains. The nightly news was filled with bad people, it seemed, but none that needed a snow queen to deal with them.

She heard the screams as she walked to the hand dryer. She stopped in her tracks because it sounded like two women screaming...and one of them sounded like Ingrid.

She bypassed the hand dryer and strode out of the bathroom, the water on her balled fists turning to frost as she activated her power. It would only take a moment to get from the ladies room to the front counter and the whole dining area could be seen from the rest room entryway. She intended to immediately look for the problem and blast it with hurricane strength cold air.

She was so locked into this intent that she almost had her hands up and pointing before she saw what was really going on. Ingrid wasn't in danger. In fact, she was locked in a deep, heartfelt hug with a woman in fancy winter clothes sporting long, straight black hair. She and Ingrid were laughing and chattering while in the embrace, and their greetings had the attention of everyone in the shop.

Fortunately, Anna noticed her before anyone else could. Her little sister whispered "It's okay" and gently clasped one of her wrists. Elsa nodded and closed her eyes, calming herself down and turning off her power. Anna nodded her approval and moved her hand into Elsa's as they returned to watching Ingrid and the stranger's reunion.

After a couple of minutes the two women drew back to half arms' length, but continued to embrace. "I'm so glad you're here!" Ingrid said. "I missed you so much!"

"Oh, tosh, darling," the woman said, a formal cadence to her speech. "I was hardly gone long enough for anyone to miss me!"

"Well it was long enough for me," Ingrid said. "You go on so many business trips I don't get to see you nearly as much as I'd like!"

"Well, I'm here now, and I have all sorts of gossip for you, so let's go to our table and get things rolling, shall we?"

"We shall...oh! First I want you to meet my girls!"

The women turned and gave Anna and Elsa a good look at the stranger as they approached. She had a model's looks, with red, red lips and a wide smile, sculpted cheekbones and flashing green eyes. She was wearing a deep green winter cape, and sported black leggings with black thigh-high boots and long black gloves. Crooked around the wrist of one glove was the handle of a long umbrella.

The stranger scrutinized the girls as she got close, looking them up and down and appraising them. "Oh, mymymy," she muttered when she got to their hair, "powdered sugar and ginger…" She turned to Ingrid. "Honey, you always have the _tastiest_ confections in your shop!"

Ingrid giggled and said, "Mal, behave...these are my nieces…"

"Oh! Your little sister's girls!" Mal said.

"That's right. Anna, Elsa, this is my best friend Mal Fisher."

Mal stuck out a hand for a feminine handshake and grinned as she said, "Charmed, I'm sure."

The girls shook hands with her and introduced themselves, and with that done Ingrid ordered coffees and the women retreated to the booth the girls had sat in on their first day. They were barely sitting down before Mal Fisher began telling stories, and it seemed like Ingrid was paying rapt attention.

The first impression was a little daunting. "Wow," Anna said. "Who _is_ that?"

"That," Tiffany said as she made the drinks, "is the richest woman in the state."

"How rich is that?" Elsa asked, genuinely curious.

"Like richer than _Oprah_ rich. She could buy everybody in _Chicago_ a car!" She pointed at Elsa. " _You_ get a car!" She pointed at Anna. "And _you_ get a car!"

The girls didn't get the reference, but assumed by the way Tiffany chuckled at it that it was at least partially a joke. "Does she come in a lot," Anna said, "like Mister Glass?"

"Every day she's in town, which isn't that often. She's always travelling to places like Milan, Paris, London...heck, she could probably afford to go to the Moon for the weekend."

"She's not _that_ big a deal," Ashley chimed in. "She's a woman, just like the rest of us. She puts her leggings on one leg at a time…"

"Yeah," Tiffany snarked, "her 500 dollar Gucci silk leggings that she bought in Belgium."

Anna's head whipped around to Elsa. _500 dollars for leggings?_ She mouthed.

Ashley huffed. "You act like she's the Queen of England or something."

Tiffany finished the drinks and turned her full attention to the girls. "You have to forgive Ashley. She's just the _tiniest_ bit jealous."

"Am not!" Ashley said.

"Why would she be jealous?" Anna said.

Tiffany grinned. "Because you two just met _Ingrid's_ girl crush."

That made Anna and Elsa turn and look at Ingrid and Mal. The dark-haired woman and their aunt were leaned in as Mal shared some sort of secret. When she was done they both leaned back laughing out loud.

"Oh…" Anna and Elsa said in unison.

Tiffany handed the drinks to Anna. "You take them over. Ingrid gets the mocha latte."

"Right." Anna put a smile on her face and walked over to the booth. As she got closer she picked up on the women's conversation. "...keep having this discussion," Ingrid was saying. "I'm still happy where I am."

"Happy yes, but you could be overjoyed if…" Mal said. She stopped when she noticed Anna. "Ah, good! Ginger! Perfect timing!"

"Um...it's Anna, actually…" Anna said.

"Well, yes of course it is...now put those drinks down so that I can use you!"

Anna slowly put the coffees down and said warily, "Use me to do what?"

"To talk some sense into your aunt. How much influence do you have over her?"

"As much as any niece, I guess…"

"Good enough! I want you to use that influence to convince her to live in sin with me!"

Ingrid gasped and blushed hard. "Mal!"

"Oh, what!" Mal said. "I just want what's best for you! I need to get you out of that dinky little house…"

"But I don't want you putting ideas in my nieces' heads...and my house is not dinky! It's a three bedroom colonial, thankyouverymuch!"

"It's still not as big as mine."

"Well some of us aren't size queens like you are."

"And _now_ who's putting ideas in the girl's head?"

Ingrid blushed harder. "Oh...behave!"

Anna was still stuck a few sentences back. "Wait...doesn't one of you have to be a man to live in sin with each other?"

Mal suddenly slammed her palm on the table and grinned gleefully at Anna as she said, "No, darling, and that's what I've been trying to tell her!"

Ingrid went beet red as Mal laughed. "Mal, stop!" She turned to Anna. "You just go right back to work, sweetie...and forget everything you just heard."

"O-kay…" Anna said, confident she could do that since she hadn't understood a word of it.

When she was standing next to Elsa again, Elsa asked her, "What's she like up close?"

"I think she's kinda nuts…" Anna said softly.

"Nope," Tiffany corrected, "when they have that much money, the word's 'eccentric.'"

"So…" Anna said, "is eccentric 'nuts' in another dialect?"

Tiffany chuckled at that. "You two might as well get back to work. Your aunt's going to be trapped in Fisherland until her girl crush decides to leave."

"Would you _stop_ calling her that?" Ashley groaned

"Sure," Tiffany said, "when it stops making you squirm."

"You're fired," Ashley said.

Tiffany shrugged. "That's okay. I'll just get a job in one of Ms. Fisher's bajillion offices. Then I'll be her assistant and still get to come here and tease you."

"Okay, you're not fired. That way, when you tease me, I can torture you with grunt work."

As Tiffany and Ashley traded friendly barbs, Anna and Elsa stepped aside. "Do you think this Oprah person is jealous of Ms. Fisher because she has more money?" Anna wondered aloud.

"I have a better question," Elsa said. "How well does Aunt Ingrid know her best friend?"

* * *

Tiffany had been right. Ingrid spent the rest of her shift plus an extra half hour talking and joking with Mal Fisher. Anna and Elsa alternated taking refills to the two women, and each time Mal took the opportunity to say something that confused the girls and embarrassed the hell out of Ingrid.

Finally they stood and Mal got ready to leave. "Well, this has been lovely, darling, but I must be off. Let me just pay for our drinks and…"

Suddenly Ingrid got very serious. "Don't you dare!"

Mal simply went to the counter. "Don't be silly! It's no trouble at all!"

"That's not the point!" Ingrid said as she went to the counter. "Ashley! You are not to take a dime from this woman!"

Mal turned to her. "Not a dime? From me?"

Ingrid crossed her arms. "Not a dime. Your money's no good here. Our drinks are on me."

Mal looked slightly aghast. "Oh my, Oh my...what an _awkward_ situation. To think I won't be allowed to spend money somewhere...it's unheard of!" She turned to Ashley. "Young woman, will you truly not accept payment from me?"

Ashley shrugged. "Sorry...I've got to do what the boss says."

"Well, yes of course you must, dear, but there are limits. Let's find out what those are." Suddenly she did a magic trick and two twenty dollar bills appeared in her hand. "Oh, goodness...where did _these_ come from? Why, I've never seen them before in my life! So strange! Well, I can't just walk around with these things flapping around, can I? What to do, what to do? I know! I'll just drop them in this handy tip box…"

Suddenly Ashley rushed over to a register and started ringing, then with a smile: "That will be eleven-ninety for the drinks, Ms. Fisher."

Mal grinned and dropped the twenties in the tip box and got out a credit card to hand to Ashley.

Ingrid looked betrayed. "Ashley!"

"Sorry, boss," Ashley said, "But I gotta do what forty bucks in tips says to do!" The rest of Ingrid's staff wholeheartedly agreed.

When the transaction was done Mal turned back to Ingrid triumphantly and approached. When they were close, Ingrid whined, "Why won't let me treat you just once?"

"Ah ah ah," Mal said. "Remember our deal…"

Ingrid sighed. "You'll never ask for anything from me but my friendship."

"Precisely! That was my promise to you. You wouldn't want me to break my promise, would you?"

"Of course not, but…"

"Tosh, darling! A promise is a promise. I can get free coffee from anyplace in the world."

"But you won't take it from me?"

"Because it's your coffee and your business and I love you and I want you to be prosperous and comfortable, so I wouldn't dream of interfering with your livelihood in even a small way. Now, no more drama. Kisses and hugs!" She spread her arms and Ingrid fell into them and they embraced closely and kissed each other's cheeks. When they pulled apart, Mal said, "I will back bright and early on Monday for more mischief, so keep our table ready."

"I will."

"Good! Now, I'm off! Goodbye, all you beautiful coffee shop people!"

Several customers and staffers waved and returned Mal's goodbye. Ingrid waved and watched wistfully as her friend went out the front door. She kept watching for a minute and sighed...then she gasped when she realized what time it was. "Girls! It's time to go!"

She turned toward the counter and spotted Anna and Elsa already wearing their jackets and head gear. "We know," Elsa said.

"We've been ready for a while now…" Anna said.

Ingrid blushed one last time and walked past them to the staff only entrance. "I'll just get my things…" she muttered.

* * *

On the highway back to Evanston, Elsa decided to broach the subject of Ingrid's friend. "Miss Fisher is certainly…" She searched for the word Tiffany taught them. "...eccentric."

It made Ingrid chuckle. "Oh, Elsa...you don't have to be so polite. Mal's a loon."

"She kept calling me 'Ginger.'" Anna complained.

"She called me 'Sugar,'" Elsa muttered.

Ingrid laughed. "It's your hair. She equates it with spices." She pointed to her own head. "It's why she calls me 'Honey' sometimes. Elsa, you're powdered Sugar because you've got that white blond thing going. And Anna...well, redheads are called Ginger all the time. Everybody got it from England."

"Isn't that the country with the Queen?" Anna said.

"Not the only one, but she is the most famous monarch in this world."

"Okay...so, it doesn't bother you that Miss Fisher's a loon?"

"Not at all. Mal and I are friends because she's the way she is. I would never have been able to approach her at the time we met."

"So you've known her a long time?" Elsa said.

"Almost since I've been in this world."

"And you've always been so close?"

"Well, of course not at first, but we've grown very close over the years."

"And you trust her?" Anna said.

"What? What do you mean, Anna?"

"Well," Elsa said, "we were considering the possibility that Miss Fisher might have ulterior motives for being so nice to you…"

"What? Oh, Honestly! Mal has been a good and true friend to me, the best friend I've ever had! How could you possibly think she has ulterior motives?"

"Well, it's not impossible…" Anna said.

"No, but how likely do you think it is that somebody so nice and generous could actually mean me harm? What could have put that notion in your heads?"

The girls looked at each other, then crossed their arms and glared at Ingrid.

Ingrid caught the look out of the corner of her eye and huffed. "Okay, yeah, that one's on me. All right...look at it this way: I set my plans in motion almost immediately after I met each of you. Mal and I have been friends literally for decades. If she's using that friendship to mask a nefarious scheme against me, what's she waiting for?"

Elsa closed her eyes and thought about that. "That is a good point, Anna…"

Now Anna was thinking. "Well...maybe she's waiting for you to move in with her! She did say she wanted to live in sin with you."

"Does that mean the same thing in this world?" Elsa said.

"I don't know...but whatever it means Miss Fisher wanted me to convince Aunt Ingrid to do it. Maybe her nefarious plan only works if you're living with her!"

Ingrid sighed. "Anna...even if that made sense, I've lived with Mal before, for years. We didn't really live apart until I first opened my foster home - which, by the way, Mal financed and helped set up."

"You've lived with her before?"

"Yes, I have. If cohabitation is vital to her plot Mal wasted years of opportunities."

That got both girls thinking again. "Well," Anna tried, "maybe you have to live together in a size queen's house for it to really work."

Ingrid covered her mouth and tried not to laugh. When she'd composed herself, she said, "Anna, Mal wants me to move in with her because she misses us living together...and frankly so do I. It was fun, and hilarious and...and comforting. She wasn't a replacement for your mother and Aunt Helga, but befriending her was the closest I've ever come to it. We've both just...gotten too used to our separate lifestyles to start rooming together again."

There were a few moments of silence as Anna and Elsa contemplated that and everything else Ingrid had said about Mal Fisher. Finally, Elsa said, "And you're sure she can be trusted?"

"Absolutely sure. How can I help you to be?"

"Well, maybe it would help if you told us how you two met."

"Okay, well...do you remember when I told you the first night in a place this strange could be lonely?"

"Yes," the girls said.

"I met Mal Fisher on my first night...and she swept my loneliness away…"

* * *

 **Our World, 1982**

Ingrid walked the streets of the strange metropolis, fearful and angry, her senses assaulted by the environment, the harsh, burning lights atop the mammoth buildings, the beacons and loud klaxons that announced the passing of iron carriages without horses pulling them, the garish clothes and bizarre dialects of the passersby.

This was madness! How could she find Emma Swan in such a world? Why would the girl even be here, amid this noise? She needed magic to search, but she no longer had any of her own. If only the soothsayer hadn't been a fraud!

This was the Apprentice's doing! He'd never intended to send her to where Emma Swan would be. He'd meant to strand her in a living hell, leave her to search aimlessly for someone that might not even exist here. The very thought made her livid, but with no magic and no way back home, there was little for her to do about her rage.

So she walked, until the thousand blazing lights dwindled to a few and the procession of iron carriages slowed to single passages and passersby were few and far between. She walked until the giant buildings became two-story dwellings in an old, rundown neighborhood, walked until rage became despair and despair became fatigue. Finally, she stopped at an abandoned brownstone and walked to the top of its front stairs to sit and rest on the top landing.

She covered her face with her hands, wanting to cry but fighting back the tears. She refused to give in to them, refused to surrender to the sadness of the situation. Giving up completely wouldn't help her out of this predicament. She knew that...she just had no idea what would help.

As she realized that, a woman's voice said, "You look like you could use a friend."

Ingrid moved her hands and raised her head. There was a woman standing at the bottom of the stairs. At least, Ingrid assumed she was a woman. She did have feminine features and long black hair, but she was dressed in men's clothing, slacks and some sort of suit coat. Did all women dress this way in this world? No...the fraudulent soothsayer wore a dress. So, what did that make this person?

She sighed. It didn't really matter. "Have a care, stranger," she said, "if your intent is to rob me you'll gain nothing by it. I have no money, no goods, and I just traded my last thing of value to a charlatan for false hope. If it's fortune you seek, seek it elsewhere and leave me in peace."

Instead of leaving, the strange woman started walking up the stairs. She was carrying an umbrella, and she tapped it on each stair as she ascended. "Well," she said, "I don't seek a fortune. I already have one of those."

"Then what do you want of me?" Ingrid said, despair giving way to impatience.

The woman came close enough for them to speak eye to eye and said, "As I said, you look like you could use a friend. I know I could use one. I've come to these shores many times, and while I've several acquaintances here I've made no lasting friendships. I just thought that we could be friends."

Ingrid laughed skeptically. "You want my friendship? Are you serious?"

"What's wrong with that? It's not someting I can rob you of, but it is something you have in abundance and can freely share, and I can freely return."

The woman was smiling, trying her best to put on a pleasant front. Ingrid just looked away. "You're mistaken. I have no need of friends."

"Actually," the woman said, "it seems to me you need all the friends you can get. No money means no shelter and no food, yes?"

Ingrid turned to glare at the woman. She wanted to say she'd be fine, but she grudgingly admitted, "Yes, that's true…"

The woman shrugged. "Well, I have money, and I know of a place where we can both stay the night." She pointed with the umbrella. "It's just a few blocks that way."

Ingrid looked in that direction. "I must have passed it on the way here."

"Normally that would be the smart move," the woman said with a grin. "It's kind of a dive, but it's shelter enough for one night. There are also places that sell food nearby. The food is barely palatable, but again, it's sustenance enough for one night. You can rest, eat, and plan your next move in the light of day tomorrow."

Ingrid's features softened as she thought about the offer. It was very tempting. She was tired, and the mention of food reminded her she was also hungry. A place to lodge and get her bearings sounded like a wonderful idea, and this stranger was willing to provide it for her, but to what end? Was her generosity real, or was she like the soothsayer, and simply playing a much more elaborate trick? "And what do you wish of me?" She asked.

"I told you. I would just like to have a friend, and I would like that friend to be you. I can understand if you're wary, of course...so, let's make a pact."

"A pact?"

"Yes, that's it! For my part, I promise to provide food and shelter and anything you need to get back on your feet, and for your part, all you need to give me is your friendship, as much as you have to give, for as long as we're acquainted."

"All you ask for is my friendship?"

"And that's all I'll ever ask you for. I promise."

"A hard promise to keep."

"Try me, darling. See if I'm as good as my word."

Ingrid bit her lip as he thought about it some more. "You don't even know me," she said softly.

"Easy to rectify," the woman said. "Tell me your name."

"It's...It's Ingrid…"

"And you can call me Mal. See, now we know each other! Progress!" She extended her hand. "Now, let me help you off this filthy stoop before you ruin that beautiful costume."

Ingrid blinked. "Costume?"

"Yes, your costume. It's lovely, and it shows off your figure wonderfully. I was taken with it the moment I saw you. Were you at a party?"

Ingrid shook her head. She thinks my gown is a costume? Well, if most women dressed like men in this strange realm, that would almost make sense. It was at that moment that Ingrid decided to be careful what parts of her past she shared with strangers, even the kind ones. She could see now that there might be no end of misunderstandings if she told the unvarnished truth. Her first encounter tonight was proof of that.

Mal didn't press the issue. "Well, it doesn't matter why. You look stunning in it, and that's reason enough for you to wear it. Now come on. Let's get you off this stoop."

After one more moment of hesitation, Ingrid extended her hand and put it in Mal's. Mal helped her to stand and then led her down the stairs and then away from the brownstone.

As they walked, Ingrid noted, "You have an umbrella."

"That's right," Mal said.

"But it's not raining…"

Mal raised the umbrella and said, "It's my good luck charm. I always have it with me."

* * *

"So...her umbrella's a good luck charm?" Anna said.

"To this day, I've never seen her leave home without an umbrella," Ingrid said. "She's had different ones over the years, but rain or shine, she always carries one when she goes out. I don't know why she considers them lucky, and I've never asked. She has her secrets and I have mine."

"And she helped you the first night you were here?" Elsa said.

"Not just the first night. She's helped me every time I've ever asked for help, and offered when I've needed it but failed to ask. She has been a godsend to me since I got here, and refused me any time I've tried to repay her. I had to browbeat her into letting me give her gifts at Christmas and on her birthday."

"And she lives in Chicago? Is that why you were sent here?"

"You've got that backwards. She moved here when I told her I'd settled in Chicago. She wanted to be close."

"Wait," Anna said, "if that's true, why didn't she move to Storybrook with you?"

"I asked her not to. I told her I was going to Storybrooke because I needed to confront some demons…"

 _"You fought demons?"_ Anna said.

"Do you think they're coming back for revenge?" Elsa said.

Ingrid sighed. "Calm down girls. In this realm, the phrase 'confronting demons' is a metaphor for facing up to personal problems and weaknesses. I told Mal I was going to Storybrooke to do that and that I needed to be out of contact with her for a while while I was there."

"How did she feel about that?" Elsa said.

"We were both heartbroken, but she didn't try to stop me. I missed her terribly while I was there. I took the name 'Fisher' partly to remember her, but I didn't try to contact her. I didn't want to until my plans had succeeded."

"But they didn't," Anna said, "and you ended up getting sent back in time."

"Right. It's funny. She thinks we've only been out of touch for two years, but for me it's been more than ten. That's why I'm so glad nowadays whenever I see her. Ten years is a very long time to be away from someone you love. Not as long as my sisters, but Mal's absence hurt just the same."

There was silence in the car for a time, then Elsa said, "So you believe she's incapable of hurting you?"

"Utterly."

"How would you feel if you found out you were wrong?"

"I would be devastated. Mal has been my reason to live all these years. I don't think I could go on if she turned out to be my enemy."

That statement frightened Anna and Elsa, mainly because they understood it completely. It seemed Ingrid loved Mal Fisher like a sister, and both girls knew what losing a sister's love could feel like.

Elsa smiled. "I'm sorry to cast doubts on Miss Fisher's intentions…"

"Don't be. Elsa, I want you to go wherever you need to go to discover the truth...I'm just giving you advance warning what my reaction would be if that's the truth you discover."

"Fair enough."

* * *

At home, in bed, Anna and Elsa talked about Mal Fisher. "I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt," Anna said, "But I just think it's awfully convenient she showed up when Ingrid was at her lowest."

"Yet we do have to consider how long they've been friends," Elsa said, "and the fact that Ingrid is reaping most of the tangible rewards of their relationship."

"I suppose...okay, maybe Miss Fisher's plan isn't super evil, like she doesn't want to kill Aunt Ingrid. Maybe she wants them to live together so badly she's plotting to force Ingrid to move in."

"I'd never considered that...but then, why are we here? Surely that's not a plot that Ingrid needs us to protect her from."

"What if Miss Fisher kidnaps her?"

"Thinking that just leads back to Ingrid's question: what's she waiting for? She's lived here almost as long as Ingrid and she's the richest woman here. Surely she can hire enough men to take Ingrid to her home any time she'd like."

"True." The girls sighed as they thought about it some more, then Anna said in her _Wanna build a snowman?_ voice: "So...you think maybe this is something Mister Glass would look into for us?"

Elsa smiled. "Yes, I think maybe this is just the thing…but we can't let Ingrid know we're asking him about it."

"Right. We don't want to upset her."

"Agreed."

And with that agreement in place, they traded goodnight hugs and kisses and went to sleep.

 **TBC...**


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

The next day was a day for firsts, starting with, for the first time in forever, Anna woke up before Elsa. Also, for the first time in the past several days, daylight was streaming in through the windows.

"Holy cats!" Anna said as she turned to wake her sister. "Elsa! Elsa, wake up!"

Elsa was startled awake. "Wha…! What's going on?" She said groggily.

"Aunt Ingrid didn't wake us up for work!"

That snapped Elsa fully awake. "She didn't?"

Anna pointed out the window. "The sun's up! When was the last time we woke up to the sun?"

"You don't think she went without us do you?"

"I hope not! How are _we_ supposed to get there without her driving us?"

"Let's not panic...maybe she overslept as well and decided not to rush."

"You think so?"

"She owns the cafe, Anna. No one can penalize her for being late to work."

"That's true. Come on. Let's go see if she's still sleeping."

The girls got out of bed and padded out of the bedroom in bare feet and peeked into the guest bedroom. "Not here," Elsa said, "but her bed's been slept in."

"Maybe she's in the shower," Anna said.

"You can hear the shower going in the hall," Elsa said. "I don't hear it...but I do hear _something._ Do you?"

"Yeah...I think it's coming from her drawing room."

The girls jogged down the hall and looked into the open door of Ingrid's home office. Anna grinned. "Here she is! And she's using the conveyer belt thing!"

"She's walking on it!" Elsa said.

"Yeah...in her _underwear_?" Anna said.

"Come on in, girls," Ingrid said as she powerwalked. When the girls got close she said. "First, it's not a conveyer belt. It's a treadmill. You're supposed to walk on it. Second, this isn't my underwear."

Anna and Elsa took a close look at the exercise top and briefs Ingrid was wearing. "It looks like underwear to me, Aunt Ingrid," Anna said.

"To me as well," Elsa said.

Ingrid shook her head and chuckled. "Fine, I won't argue with you about it."

"Why are you walking on a treadmill in your underwear?" Anna said.

"Because it's good exercise," Ingrid said.

"But you're not getting anywhere." Elsa said. "You could do the same exercise outside and actually see different people and things."

"True, but I'm not going walking in 20-degree weather with a windchill in the teens until somebody gives me my powers back. If you want to, be my guest."

"Is it hard to do?" Anna said.

"Actually the treadmill does half the work. It moves with your feet."

"Cool! Can I try it?"

"Sure...oh, but not in your bare feet. Go put on the sneakers I got you."

"Okay!" Anna dashed out of the room with a giggle.

"How about you, Elsa?" Ingrid said.

Elsa smiled. "I think I'd rather take a stroll in the 20-degree weather."

"Suit yourself."

"Are we going to work after we exercise?"

"No. I don't work on weekends. Today we clean up the house and run errands."

A few moments later Anna rushed back into the room. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and she was wearing her new sneakers - as well as a lacy bra-and-panties set. Elsa's eyebrow went up when she saw it. "What?" Anna asked.

Ingrid caught a glimpse of it and lowered her head. "I'm almost done…" she said, trying not to laugh. She touched some controls on the control panel in front of her and the treadmill slowed to a stop. She got off and had Anna get on. "Stand close to the controls. Good. Now, remember, it's not just you walking. The treadmill will move with you and control your pace to an extent."

"I'll remember," Anna said...then she promptly forgot as Ingrid started the machine. She managed to stop herself faceplanting on the control panel by grabbing the handrails, then needed a minute to stand herself upright and keep pace with the tread. "Okay...okay...I got it now!"

"Good," Ingrid said, "now you get a good workout. Come on, Elsa."

Elsa followed Ingrid out of the room. Anna glanced at them leaving and said, "Okay...hey, wait...how do I know when to stop? And how do I stop it?" Nothing. "Aunt Ingrid?" Nothing again. "Aunt Ingrid!"

On the stairs, Elsa asked, "How long are you going to make her walk?"

"Oh, about twenty minutes," Ingrid said, then with a grin, "or maybe I'll just wait until she screams 'Help! Jane! Stop this crazy thing!'" She made herself laugh at that.

Of course, Elsa didn't get it. "Why would she scream that? Who's Jane?"

"Never mind. That's a 'this world' reference. Come on. I'll give you a few pointers about cooking breakfast while we're waiting."

* * *

Twenty minutes after that, Ingrid sent Elsa to retrieve Anna while she set the table for breakfast. She was setting down their plates when the girls came down to the kitchen, Anna wearing a sheen of sweat and a towel draped around her neck. "So did you feel the burn?" Ingrid asked.

It stopped Anna in her tracks. "Was I supposed to feel a burning sensation? Is that why you have to wear shoes?"

Ingrid shook her head. "I meant, did you feel like you got enough exercise?"

"Oh...Oh! Yeah, sure. Why not just say that? There are so many weird phrases in this world."

"And you should be trying to pick up on as many as possible. It can be frustrating to be confused by things everybody around you understands immediately, even if what was said made no logical sense."

"More lessons…" Anna said as everyone sat down.

"And later we get to clean the house," Elsa said.

"Well, in that case I wish we could at least have a breakfast sandwich again today."

With that, Ingrid got up and got a spatula, then came back to the table and used it to scoop Anna's bacon and eggs between two pieces of toast. "Voila," she said as she rested the sandwich on Anna's plate.

"Cool!" Anna said. "I can't believe that didn't occur to me...um, hash browns?"

"Don't press your luck," Ingrid said. "Eat."

So everyone dug into their meals, but only a few minutes in a sudden thought struck Anna. She hurriedly finished the bite in her mouth and announced, "Actually, there was one weird thing someone said that I can't figure out."

"What is it?" Elsa said.

Anna turned to Ingrid and said, "What's a Milf?"

Ingrid almost spit out her orange juice. She swallowed quickly and asked, "When did you hear that word?"

"Yesterday. I was by the bathrooms when two young men went in, and I heard one of them say, 'Hey did you see the two milfs in the back booth?' I think he was talking about you and Miss Fisher."

"It's possible…" Ingrid said.

Anna nodded. "And then the other one said, 'Yeah, the blond one's giving me wood.' What's a Milf? Does it have anything to do with milk? Because if it does I don't get it."

"And why would you give anyone wood?" Elsa asked seriously. "Your shop sells coffee and ice cream, not lumber."

Ingrid had to turn away from them, breathe and count to ten, and even after that her voice shook with restrained laughter as she turned back to answer them. "No, Anna, it has nothing to do with milk. And, Elsa, what the other man said was...not meant to be taken literally."

"Oh," Elsa said, "is it an insult then?" Elsa found she'd become very sensitive to Ingrid being insulted.

"No," Ingrid said. "It's actually a compliment. It's kind of a _vulgar_ compliment, but...oh, you know what, girls? I was wrong. You don't have to know the meaning behind every single weird thing you hear. Some you can just ignore. Let's start with what those men said, okay?"

Anna and Elsa shrugged and went back to eating. If Ingrid didn't think it was important, they wouldn't obsess over it. Ingrid was glad they didn't. She was having trouble keeping a straight face.

After breakfast the Arendelles showered and dressed in jeans and sweat tops, then proceeded to thoroughly clean Ingrid's house. This took a few hours. After that, they piled into Ingrid's truck and headed out to food-shop. Anna and Elsa were as fascinated by the supermarket as they had been the department store. It was one large building filled with items they were used to seeing spread among a thousand different shops in the market square. They went around the whole store, filling a cart to overflowing with the items Ingrid had listed in her phone. The girls were especially giddy when Ingrid picked up three new boxes of Pop-tarts.

The number of bags they walked out with was enough to fill the storage area and rear seat area of the truck. "You may not have enough room to put all of this food away, Aunt Ingrid," Anna said.

"We're not taking it all home," Ingrid said. "There's a food drive at the county food bank this weekend, so we're going to take some of it there and donate it."

"Donate?" Elsa said. "Like giving money to charity?"

"Just like. In this case the food will go to the food bank, which will in turn distribute it among soup kitchens, homeless shelters and similar places."

"Homeless?" Anna said. "There are people in this world with no homes?"

"Unfortunately, yes. In fact it's worse for people here. Back home, there are wild lands where people without homes can camp and live off the land until they can find a homestead. In a city like this, it can be traumatizing to lose a home and have nowhere to go."

"And the places you mentioned help?" Elsa said.

"Yes, as much as they can. The truth is there are more homeless in just this country alone than most charitable organizations can help. There's always a struggle for money and resources."

"That's terrible!" Anna said. "Now I wish I could do more to help on my own."

Elsa blinked. "Do more? Anna...you married a homeless person."

"No I didn't. Kristoff isn't homeless. He has a home...with the rock trolls...who sleep outside...in a mountain clearing...oh…"

Ingrid grinned. "You're an awesome person, Anna, even when you don't realize it."

The food drive turned the food bank into a hive of activity. Ingrid encountered several people she knew as they dropped off the food. She took time to chat with some of them and introduce Anna and Elsa, then they went back home and put away their own food. After that, Ingrid decided to show them around the city, and chose to start at a place she was sure would be bizarre and wonderful to someone from Arendelle: Chicago/O'Hare International Airport. Ingrid drove to a neighborhood close enough to O'Hare's runways to get a close-up look at airplanes coming and going and parked. The girls screamed when they got their first look at a giant airplane - an A380, Ingrid thought - rising into the sky with jet noise so loud it rattled their teeth. They stayed long enough to see a few planes take off and land before piling back into the truck and heading to their next stop.

The girls couldn't stop talking about the airport. "That was so loud and scary!" Anna said.

"But exciting!" Elsa said. "Did you see the way they turned in the sky?"

"And their wheels went up in their bodies like birds tucking their feet in!" Anna said.

"It's hard to believe something so big can stay in the air," Elsa said. "Do you know how they do it, Aunt Ingrid?"

"I only know it has something to do with how fast they're going," Ingrid said. "I've never felt compelled to learn about something I want nothing to do with ever again. I do know who could tell you everything about flying, though…"

"Let me guess," Anna said, "Miss Fisher?"

Ingrid smiled and nodded. "She has licenses to fly both small propeller planes and commercial widebodies, and she talks about flying like she was born doing it. She's tried to tell me on several occasions how safe flying is and the principles behind it. I just nod my head and resolve to drive everywhere."

"I don't know, Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said, "I think I'd like to try it at least once…"

"Maybe we could fly to Stoybrooke!" Anna blurted out, then she remembered and said, "You know...when we're ready to go back home…"

Ingrid seemed unphased when she answered, "Nobody can fly to Storybrooke, sweetie. It doesn't have an airport."

"It doesn't?"

"Nope. You'd have to fly to someplace like Portland or Bangor and either drive from there or get a regional plane to a nearby town and make your way from there."

"Why doesn't Storybrooke have an airport?" Elsa said. "Is it too small?"

"No. There are actually smaller towns with regional airports and municipal fields. Storybrooke can't have an airport because of the various isolation spells it's been put under."

"Why would that matter?" Anna said.

"Because sometimes the laws of Man supercede the laws of Magic, and the laws governing air travel are a major example of that. You see, Storybrooke is supposed to exist outside the experience of non-magical beings. It doesn't appear on any mortal map and it can't be observed or entered without the proper magic, but if it had an airport, the protection spells would have to make exceptions, because airports are subject to Federal and international regulations concerning air travel, including the rule that states if a nearby aircraft declares an emergency, the nearest airport air traffic control has to lend assistance, up to and including bringing the aircraft in for an emergency landing.

"Well, that would be a problem for a town that isn't supposed to exist. The isolation magic won't override the laws, so the choice is left up to the people in Storybrooke tower. Either they ignore the emergency call and let the plane crash or they bring the plane down to land and help the passengers and crew, which means you've got an aviation accident in a town that doesn't exist or a plane load of non-magical strangers in a town that doesn't exist. Either situation could cause serious problems. So, the magic around the town avoids them entirely by making sure no version of Storybrooke ever includes an airport."

The girls were quiet for a time as they let that sink in, then Anna said, "Wow!"

"Wow, indeed," Ingrid said.

Next stop was a late lunch in one of the restaurants in Willis Tower. Ingrid really wanted to take them up to the Skydeck, but that required tickets and planning in advance. Still, the girls were satisfied just being close to a building so tall. It fired both their imaginations. After that, Ingrid played tour guide, driving around to show the girls various sights like Wrigley Field, Millenium Park and The Second City.

As evening set in Ingrid told the girls she had a special surprise for them, then she drove to the AMC River East multiplex theater. "What's in here?" Anna asked.

"Movies to watch," Ingrid said as they got out of the truck.

"Like the ones we've been seeing?" Elsa said.

"Just like, only newer and on a much bigger screen. All the Star Wars movies I showed you were first shown in places like this." Ingrid checked the time on her phone and smiled. "Good. We should get in on time if the lines aren't too long…"

"So we're going to see a movie on a big screen?" Anna said. "Which one?"

"Be patient," Ingrid said. "You'll see when we get inside."

The girls followed along as Ingrid led them through the parking lot. They quietly speculated with each other about what movie they might be going to see...then, the first poster they saw as they walked in made them gasp, and they realized they should have known all along.

"More Star Wars?" The said in unison, smiling.

"Yep!" Ingrid said. "Episode Seven! I've been dying to see this myself, but the craze just died down enough to get tickets on the night of...I hope."

Ingrid led them to the ticket counter. There was enough room in the next showing to get three seats together in the middle right of the theater. It was a non-3D showing. Ingrid had thought about getting tickets for the 3D show but the next one was sold out and she didn't want to wait, or make the girls wait.

Next stop was the concession counter, where the Arendelles got on line. "Is there anything you'd like to snack on?" Ingrid asked. "Candy? Popcorn?"

"Popcorn?" Elsa said. "But it's not Christmas."

Ingrid giggled. "It doesn't have to be."

"Mother didn't let us snack on popcorn while we were decorating the tree," Anna said. "She would say, 'Anna, if you don't stop eating the popcorn off that string I'll rap your knuckles.' It was no idle threat."

"Don't worry," Ingrid said. "In here you can eat a big old tub of popcorn if you want and nobody will complain. It's how the theater makes its money."

"Cool! I want one of those, then…"

"Elsa, how about you?"

"You said they have candy...do they have licorice?"

"The closest thing they would have here would be something called 'Twizzlers.' You should try them."

"All right, I will."

When they left the concession counter they had with them an extra large tub of popcorn to share, plus Twizzlers for Elsa, a Snickers bar for Anna and pretzel bites for Ingrid, and they all had large frozen slushy drinks to wash it all down.

In the theater, Anna said, "It looks like you could put on a play in here…"

"Yes," Ingrid said, "but the play will be on that big screen up front instead of a stage. Let's find our seats." It only took a few minutes. The theater was only half full at the moment and no one had been seated in their row yet. They sat down with Anna sitting between Elsa and Ingrid and Elsa in the end seat, then they set up their snacks for easy reach and put their drinks in the armrests.

"Okay, turn your phones off," Ingrid said, doing so with her own phone. The girls followed suit as she continued. "Also, you won't be allowed to talk once the movie starts, so if you have questions you'll have to wait until after, okay?"

The girls nodded, then Elsa said, "In Arendelle, it's against the law to talk in a theater while a play is going on. If caught, you will be fined two crowns and be made to help the Ministry of Street Cleaning clean the village streets."

"Oh, I remember," Ingrid said. "My father instituted that law. He was seated in the royal box watching an opera when a dignitary in the next box began a conversation loud enough for him to hear. He had the royal guard drag him out of the theater and put him in the stocks. Daddy _really_ loved the opera." The girls giggled at that, and Ingrid continued, "He wanted to make that the law, but mother talked him down to the fine and community service. Here, not talking in a theater is a matter of policy. If caught and told multiple times to be quiet you'll just be asked to leave and not return. It doesn't become a matter of law unless you refuse to leave or what you say causes harm, like if you scream 'Fire!' and cause a panic."

"Everybody knows that they're supposed to be quiet, right?" Anna said.

"Generally, and sometime during the trailers the theater will remind everybody. Even that doesn't work perfectly, but most people abide."

"What's a trailer?" Elsa said.

"Scenes from upcoming movies that the movie makers want you to go to the theaters and see. There'll be a bunch of them, so we should settle in."

Anna smiled and rested the popcorn on her lap and took a handful and started eating. Elsa and Ingrid reached over and followed suit, then they all took long pulls on their slushies.

"Aagh! Too fast!" Anna said as she stopped drinking and poked the bridge of her nose. "What's this feeling called in this realm?"

"Brain freeze," Ingrid said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Elsa glanced at her sister and aunt and smiled as she continued drinking.

They continued to snack on popcorn and their drinks while the trailers and theater ads went through their cycle, then the reminders came: no talking, no loud noises, cell phones off, no videotaping. Then the screen announced the Feature Presentation...then Anna groaned when yet another trailer started. "Liar!" she said semi-loudly. Both Elsa and Ingrid shushed her.

Finally, the word "Lucasfilm" appeared on the screen and changed colors. This time it was larger than life, and Elsa and Anna were already hooked when the blue words appeared.

Then the fanfare started and "Star Wars" flew back on the screen...and the theater erupted in cheers and applause.

Anna and Elsa saw this and were confused, and even more confused when they saw Ingrid cheering and applauding right along with everyone else. "But you said…" Anna started.

"Sometimes it's forgiven," Ingrid said. "Star Wars fans have been waiting ages for this movie."

Elsa chose to ignore the outburst and concetrated on reading the text, which told her this was "Episode VII: The Force Awakens," and talked about Luke Skywalker going missing, Leia becoming a general, and a new enemy known as the First Order. The crowd died down as a large shadow on the screen blocked out a glowing moon, and small lights showed little ships emerging from the shadow. Then flickering lights showed ranks of Stormtroopers fighting the turbulence of transit.

When an old man gave something to a young man and said, "This will begin to set things right…" the girls got totally lost in the world again.

* * *

They were still gushing about it as they went back to the car. "I loved Rey!" Anna declared. "It was so awesome the way she grabbed the lightsaber and went nuts on that weenie Kylo Ren!"

"My favorite part was when she was flying the Millenium Falcon," Elsa said. "It's like she was born flying, like Aunt Ingrid said about Miss Fisher. It looks like it would be so much fun to soar around in the sky and fly into the heavens that way!"

"Well, the Falcon is fantasy," Ingrid said, "but there are plenty of schools in this realm that teach flying for real, and I'm sure Mal would be willing to give you a free lesson or two if you asked her nicely."

"Do you think so?"

"I'm sure of it." Ingrid stopped walking and sighed, then turned to face Elsa. "In fact, I shouldn't be forcing my fears onto you and your sister. You should experience as much about this world that's good as you can. If you want to fly, we'll find a way for you to do it. We can talk to Mal about taking you up when we see her Monday."

"Really! That would be wonderful! Thank you, Aunt Ingrid!"

"You're welcome. In the meantime, I can't help you fly, but there's something I can show you. We need a parking lot, though…"

"We're in a parking lot," Anna said.

"Not an active one. We need one nobody's using. I know just the place. Come on."

* * *

Ingrid drove all the way back to Evanston before finding the lot she wanted, the parking lot of a computer services store that had been shut down for years. The parking lot that served it was completely empty, and had been for the same amount of time.

Ingrid drove right to the center of the lot and put the truck in park, then she turned to Elsa and said, "Let's switch places."

Elsa was surprised, but dutifully got out of the truck with Ingrid and got back in on the driver's side. When they were buckled back in, Ingrid said, "I know you've been curious about driving, so I thought I'd show you how it works. Are you ready?"

Elsa's eyes bugged out slightly. She just looked at Ingrid for a moment, then she turned and looked at the controls of the truck, then a tiny snowfall opened up over her head as she turned back to Ingrid. "I…don't think so…"

Ingrid put a hand lightly on Elsa's wrist and smiled. "It's okay," Ingrid said. "I get that it's confusing. You know why? People call these things 'horseless carriages," but it's not until you're behind the wheel of one that you realize something important: a carriage without a horse doesn't do anything on its own. The horse does all the work when you signal it. You give it one signal, it goes. Another, it turns, another, it stops...but no horse means nothing to signal and your carriage just sits there with you in it."

Elsa blinked. "That's it! That's exactly it! How did you know?"

"Been there. When I first learned I had to come up with a new way to think of it in terms I could understand. Here's what you do. Forget the carriage stuff...it's a sailing ship."

"A sailing ship?"

"Yes. You know how one works, don't you?"

"Yes…"

Ingrid nodded and pointed at the steering wheel. "This is your helm. It controls the rudder. If you turn it to larboard, the car goes to larboard. Turn it to starboard, the car goes to starboard. Okay?" She pointed at the gas pedal. "This is your sail. When you press down on it with your foot, it fills with wind and the car goes. The more you press down, the more wind your sail catches. Raise your foot and the sail spills the wind and the car slows down." She pointed to the brake pedal. "This is your anchor. Stepping on this slows the car as well. Press it all the way, the car stops completely until you raise your foot, or 'weigh anchor.' Now, you only use your right foot for the sails and the anchor, so that you don't try to use both at the same time." She pointed to the gear shift. "This is your sailing master and navigator. It sets your course. You issue a command by moving this and watching this gauge until the pointer is where you want it."

"It says 'Prindle…'" Elsa said.

"It's supposed to. Right now it's pointing to P, which holds the car still. When you press this button and move this down, the indicator goes to R, which backs the car up, N, which lets the car follow the currents, and D, most importantly, which makes the car go forward."

"What about L?"

"That's something only true car nuts need. You won't. Ready now?"

Elsa closed her eyes, took a deep breath and calmed herself down, making the little snowfall disappear. When she opened her eyes again, she looked at Ingrid and said, "Yes, I'm ready."

Ingrid nodded, then pointed to "ten" and "two" on the steering wheel and said, "Grip the helm here and here." Elsa complied. "Now, drop anchor." Elsa pressed the brake pedal down all the way. "Now, take your right hand off the helm and move your sailing master to 'D.'" Elsa used her right hand to shift the car through to "Drive." "Good. Okay, this is it. Watch where you're going through the front windshield, weigh anchor and add some wind to your sails."

Elsa locked her gaze firmly on the world outside the front windshield being lit up by the truck's headlights. Then she firmed up her grip on the wheel and muttered "Weigh anchor, add wind..." as she released the brake and stepped down on the gas. The truck leapt forward, its sudden speed panicking Anna and Elsa and making Elsa take her foot off the gas and slam on the brakes, which made everyone lurch forward in their seatbelts. It took a few moments after that for the girls to catch their breaths.

Ingrid just laughed and touched Elsa's shoulder. "There you are. Welcome to everybody's first time driving. Okay, when you press or release the pedals you want to do so gradually so you don't start moving too fast or stop too short. Slowly raise your foot and slowly lower your foot. Got it?"

"Got it," Elsa said, nodding. She took another breath and let it out, then slowly took her foot off the brake, noticing as she did that the truck started moving forward on its own. Then she stepped lightly on the gas and noticed that it sped up with each centimeter the gas pedal went down, so she only pressed it a little way, and the truck moved forward at a less scary speed.

"Good," Ingrid said, "just give it a little more wind." Elsa pressed down a hair more. "That's it," Ingrid said, "now, right full rudder." Elsa turned the wheel as far as she could and watched the world outside shift to the left. "Good girl...steady up on this bearing." Elsa turned the wheel back and held it when the truck was moving straight. "Oh, you're a natural. Now, in a minute I'm going to have you make a half turn to starboard…" She waited a few moments, then said, "Now. Right half rudder." Elsa complied, turning the truck for a second before Ingrid said, "Left half rudder." Elsa complied again. When Ingrid said, "Steady up…" this time, Elsa felt more confident as she straightened the truck out.

When Elsa executed a hard left turn on command, Anna gushed, "Elsa! You're _driving!_ You're driving a driving machine!"

"I am!" Elsa said, laughing. She started to tear up, then wiped her eyes when it occurred to her that driving might be more difficult with blurred vision.

Ingrid guided Elsa through a few figure eights in the empty lot before taking back the wheel and driving home. That night in bed, Anna and Elsa marveled over everything they had done during the day and wondered what Ingrid had in store for them tomorrow.

* * *

The new day actually started more routinely than the girls expected. As they did every Sunday back home, they attended church. Ingrid got them up early and had them put on their new dresses and took them to her church a few blocks away. It was an American Anglican church, which Ingrid explained was derived from a church created by a king in centuries past, which to Ingrid seemed like a perfect church for princesses and queens to attend.

After services were over Ingrid drove them straight back home. When they were in the kitchen, Anna asked, "What else are we going to do today, Aunt Ingrid?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Ingrid proclaimed.

"That sounds boring…" Anna said.

"That depends on your definition of nothing," Ingrid said. "Mine is: 'I've done everything I have to do this weekend on Saturday, so I shall spend this day doing as little work as humanly possible.'"

"That is a long definition for the word 'nothing'..." Elsa said.

"But I like it!" Anna said. "I'm in! How does it work?"

"We start by stripping to our underwear!" Ingrid said, and for dramatic effect fairly ripped off the dress she was wearing, leaving her in a white bra and panty ensemble.

"Our underwear?!" Elsa said.

"Yes," Ingrid said as she took her dress to the laundry room, "for today is also Underwear Day!"

"That's not really a thing, is it?" Anna said.

"It is in this house. Strip, ladies!"

Anna giggled at that and shimmied out of her dress, then trotted into the laundry room. Elsa just sighed and put her hands on her hips. "You two need to get past this whole underwear thing!" She said to them.

Ingrid and Anna came back into the kitchen then. Ingrid crossed her arms and said, "Anna, your sister's being uncooperative. We'll have to do this the hard way. Go hold her down."

Anna grinned evilly and clawed her hands at Elsa. "Mwa-hahahah!" She said. Then she was chasing Elsa around the island, with Elsa screaming in terror and Anna saying things like "I'll get you my pretty!"

After a few laps around the kitchen Elsa stopped and said, "All right! All right, already!" She rushed to get out of her dress and held it out to Anna. "There! Happy?"

Anna walked up to her with a triumphant smile and collected the dress. "Ecstatic," She said, before taking the garment to the laundry room.

Ingrid headed into the living room. "Kick off your shoes by the stairs," she said. "We'll take them up when we go to bed."

Ingrid had just taken hers off as the girls came into the living room. "Aunt Ingrid," Anna said, "are you going to make breakfast soon?"

"Oh, no," Ingrid said. "I usually don't cook on Underwear Day. Your first day here was an exception."

"Then what are we going to eat?" Elsa said.

"What do you think? Pop-tarts and hot chocolate!"

"Yay!" The girls said.

"You two will prepare them."

"Huh?" The girls said.

"I just told you: I don't cook on Underwear Day. Chop-chop!" With that, Ingrid went to plop down on a couch and read a magazine.

The girls looked at each other. "I think we walked right into that one…" Elsa said.

"I think you're right," Anna said. "I'll boil?"

"And I'll toast." The girls trotted back into the kitchen.

"Just make a box and pile them on a plate!" Ingrid called to them. "And bring everything into the living room." While they worked, Ingrid ran upstairs to retrieve her tablet and came back down.

Soon, each of them had a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and a wild cherry poptart in the other. They took a sip and a bite and relished the sweet goodness of the meal. After a couple more bites, Anna asked, "What else do we do on Underwear Day?"

"Mostly binge watch stuff on TV," Ingrid said.

"Binge watch?" Elsa said.

"Like binge drinking, only it's TV shows instead of alcohol. Oh...you guys like Game of Thrones. We could knock off a whole season today…"

"Wait!" Anna said. "What about Star Wars?"

"You want to watch those movies again?" Elsa said.

"No...well, I wouldn't mind it, but I mean we've seen episodes four, five, six and seven, right?"

Ingrid nodded. "Right."

"Well, what about episodes one, two and three?"

Ingrid visibly shuddered. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask about those."

"Why?" Elsa said. "Are they not as good as the others?"

"That...depends on who you ask. You see, Episode One was made almost twenty years after Episode Six, so there's a generation gap. Those whose first experience with Star Wars is Episodes One, Two and Three tend to consider them great movies. Those who saw Four, Five and Six first...tend to disagree. Strongly."

"Which camp are you in?" Anna asked.

"I saw _Return of The Jedi_ when it was released. I had only been in this realm a year and I'd never seen anything like a movie before, and my first time out I see this epic heavenly war adventure with the battle of Endor and a giant fortress moon getting blown up. I was so stunned I almost didn't leave the theatre afterwards. Nothing beats that experience. Screw the prequels."

The girls looked at each other with the unfamiliar word, then turned back to Ingrid. "Well, we feel we should be allowed to judge for ourselves," Elsa said defiantly. Anna nodded.

Ingrid sighed and said, "You asked for it…" as she worked her tablet.

Soon, the girls were settling into the couches as the Lucasfilm word appeared on the TV, then the blue words, then they clapped as the Star Wars logo appeared and the fanfare started.

Then they stopped clapping as they read the chapter text.

"Taxes?" Anna said. "Episode One is about taxes?"

"And businessmen?" Elsa said. The phrase "Trade Federation" had flummoxed her.

"And here we go…" Ingrid muttered.

As the end credits rolled, the girls stared at the screen for a long time. Then Anna turned to Ingrid and said, "What the serious heck was that?"

"Did I miss something?" Elsa said. "It feels like I missed something."

"Bubbles!" Anna blurted out. "The fish people! The skinny robots had guns and war machines...and the fish people shot _bubbles_ at them!"

"And they shouldn't have made Jar Jar commander," Elsa opined. "I feel there must have been a commander smarter than Jar Jar."

 _"Olaf_ is smarter than Jar Jar!" Anna raged.

Ingrid shrugged. "Jar Jar was mostly a comic relief character…"

"But he wasn't funny, Aunt Ingrid…" Elsa said.

"Just annoying!" Anna said.

"I'm sure five-year-olds who'd never seen Star Wars before thought he was hilarious."

"We're not five!" The girls said in unison.

"And thus we have our first problem with episode one…"

"And what was the point of the little boy and his...meaty chloreans?" Anna said.

"Anna," Ingrid said, "that little boy grows up to be Darth Vader."

Anna and Elsa's jaws dropped. " _Shut the front door!"_ Anna said.

"Ooooh, nice usage, Anna…" Ingrid said.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Ingrid," Elsa said, "but I find it hard to believe that little boy would grow up to become Darth Vader."

"He's too cute!" Anna said. "And helpful! And they call him 'Annie.' That's a girl's name. That's _my_ name!"

"And thus we have the second problem with episode one," Ingrid said. "Ready for Episode Two?"

"Now I'm not sure…" Anna said.

"We did ask for it…" Elsa said.

"Tell you what," Ingrid said, "Let's go make ourselves some sandwiches for lunch and you can decide while we're in the kitchen."

The three of them headed into the kitchen and pulled out coldcuts and other fixings to make sandwiches. Just as they were getting started Ingrid's cell phone rang. It was her weekend manager calling. "Hey, Madison. What's up?"

"We're going to be short-handed tomorrow night, boss," Madison said. "Both Terry and Vicki called in. Vicki's got a family emergency and has to leave town and Terry's got a make-up exam he can't miss."

"Hmmm, that could be a problem...okay, how about the morning? Anybody from then call in?"

"Nope, looks like we're good on the morning shift."

"Good. In that case I'll just come in at night with my nieces. That should help make up for it. Just note it in the schedule log, okay?"

"Okay, boss. I'll put it in. See you later."

"See you." She hung up and turned to Anna and Elsa. "Good news. We don't have to get up heinously early tomorrow morning."

"Whoo-hoo!" Anna said immediately.

"Why not?" Elsa asked.

"Two of my employees won't be in tomorrow night, so we're going to fill in for them. It's actually better that way. It's less busy, so I'll have more time to teach you about the business. I can even show you how to make a few basic drinks."

"That sounds like fun," Anna said.

"I just have to make a couple of phone calls…"

"Hey! I thought there was no working on Underwear Day!"

"The phrase is 'As little work as humanly possible.' Some things can't be helped. Don't worry. It'll only take a few minutes." She called Ashley's number from her contacts and only had to wait a second or two before the girl answered. "Hey, Ash, it's Ingrid. I'm not going to be in tomorrow morning. Terry and Vicki are going to be out at night and the girls and I will be filling in. We're also likely to be late Tuesday morning."

"Got it, boss. We should be fine. I'll see you Tuesday."

"See you." Ingrid hung up and was about to call Mal Fisher when she received a call from Mal. "Mal! I was just about to call you."

"Bad news, Darling!" Mal said. "I won't be able to see you tomorrow morning!"

"You sound like you're calling from the airport."

"I am, Darling!"

"Another business trip?"

"Couldn't be helped. A client in Brussels needs his hand held during an auction and will settle for no one other than the CEO. I'm terribly sorry…"

"Oh...well, that's okay. I was going to tell you I wouldn't be in in the morning anyway."

"Oh?"

"I'm filling in on the night shift."

"Oh...well, that could still work out. I intend to be back home tomorrow night, so if I get in before you close I'll head right over to the shop and we can have our visit then. How does that sound?"

"Just fine, and even if you can't we always have Tuesday morning."

"Exactly! It's a date, then! Love you!"

"Love you." Ingrid hung up, sighed and turned to the girls. "Well, hopefully nothing else wil need tending to today. Finished making your sandwiches?" The girls smiled and showed off what they made. Elsa's was simple and neat. Anna had practically made a "Dagwood."

"Good," Ingrid said. She started making her own sandwich and asked, "Have you decided whether to keep watching the prequels?"

"We have," Elsa said. "We have to keep watching. If we don't, then it's like we've only read part of a book."

"So we have to see the parts we missed," Anna said, "even if they have taxes and stupid fish people."

"I like your spirit," Ingrid said. "Let's put this stuff away and get back to it." Ingrid finished building her sandwich and they put all the coldcuts and fixings away, then took their sandwiches and glasses of fruit punch into the living room, where Ingrid set up _Attack of The Clones_ on the TV.

At the end of this one, Elsa and Anna were shaking their heads. "So," Anna said, "The Stormtroopers were the _good guys_ in this one?"

"Not Stormtroopers, dear," Ingrid said. "Clone Troopers."

"They looked a heck of a lot like Stormtroopers to me, Aunt Ingrid," Anna said, then she muttered, "It's like you and your treadmill underwear..."

Ingrid lost it then. When she stopped herself from laughing a minute later, she said, "Yes, Anna, they do look like Stormtroopers, and the distinction is razor thin, but there is a difference between them and Clone Troopers."

"And was that young man with the braid supposed to be Anakin?" Elsa said.

"Yes, it was," Ingrid said.

"And he becomes Darth Vader?" Anna said. "But he's not scary! He's...whiny!"

"He does seem rather childish…" Elsa said.

"If you think that now," Ingrid said, "you're gonna _love_ Revenge of the Sith."

Anna caught the sarcasm and responded with some of her own "Wait, let me guess: The Republic loses the clone war and Anakin throws a temper tantrum."

Ingrid just stared for a moment, then said, "You're not far off…" It made the girls groan, then Ingrid said, "Look...just watch it anyway and I'll order deep dish pizza for dinner tonight. If you don't like the movie... well, we'll be having deep dish, and that makes everything better."

A few hours later, just after Anakin killed the younglings, the pizza arrived. The girls found they did feel better after having some…

 **TBC...**


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER:** _Once Upon A Time and all related characters are the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and the ABC Television Network. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author and may not be used without permission. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author._

* * *

 **ARENDELLE SISTERS**

 **by Darrin A. Colbourne**

* * *

He'd been watching Ingrid Arendelle for weeks, trying to get into her habits and learn her patterns, basically trying to be as intimately familiar with her as he could manage without her knowing about it. There was a goal here, and learning about Ingrid's life was the key to fulfilling it. Once he learned everything he needed to learn, he just needed to wait for an opportunity. He thought he'd had that opportunity in hand two Saturdays ago.

That's when the complications showed up, throwing everything off and making the last week and change...interesting, to say the least.

See, two Saturdays ago he was following the Coffee Queen (It was his name for her, because she walked around her little store like she was Empress or something) home from her dinner date with her Rich Bitch friend in Irvington. He'd thought she was nuts trying to drive home in the middle of a nor'easter like that one, even with her big-ass SUV, but ultimately that's what gave him his opportunity. Lots of bad things could happen in a storm like that.

He'd followed her on the highway from as far back as visibility allowed. There weren't many other fools on the road that night, so it wouldn't take a master spy to realize they were being tailed. In fact, he'd thought she had spotted him when she pulled into the nature preserve so abruptly, as if she were trying to shake him. Then again, it didn't matter either way. He knew where she lived, and he knew she'd end up at home eventually, so he just sped up a little and drove past where she'd exited.

He'd managed to beat her to her block by about five minutes, which left him just enough time to park a house away across the street and get ready for her arrival. When he caught her approaching in his rearview, he'd hunkered down to watch her pass him and stop in front of her house. This was it. He'd seen the snow piled up in her driveway. Even a good SUV would have trouble getting through it, so he'd anticipated she'd have to park and enter her house on foot or shovel the drive before she could put the truck in the garage. Either way he could close out his contract with minimal fuss. With this in mind he bent to check in his glove compartment to make sure he had the tool he needed to take care of business, fully expecting to see Coffee Queen trudging through the snow to her front door when he'd straightened up.

Instead, he'd straightened up and seen the SUV backing into the garage like there was never any snow there.

 _What the hell?_

He wasn't imagining it. The truck had been reversing unimpeded into the garage. Yet he hadn't imagined the snow in the drive either. He'd checked. Ingrid had been out of town for two days and hadn't bothered to salt her walks or drive before the storm hit. So what the hell happened to all the snow that was literally just there a minute ago?

He'd continued watching the house after the garage closed. The lights came on and went off throughout as Coffee Queen and two others went through it. Two others? He hadn't seen them clearly at first, but there were definitely three shadows moving through the house. Where had the other two come from? Coffee Queen had left Rich Bitch's house alone, and this one had been empty last time he'd checked.

This required a closer look. He'd gotten out of his car and went to the trunk to retrieve a gun-sight. He'd use that to get a look into the house from directly across the street, using the storm and a parked car as cover. By the time he'd got into position there was light in Coffee Queen's bedroom, so he aimed the sight right into it. (Coffee Queen was a voyeur's dream. She acted like she grew up somewhere where it was impossible to peer into her bedroom window and never bothered to close her drapes or blinds.) There she was, stripping the bed, which made sense. She wanted to go to bed with clean linens. He'd continued watching as she retrieved new sheets and blankets and started to make the bed.

That's when he'd gotten a good look at the other two.

 _Again, what the hell?_

Two young girls had come into the bedroom, a redhead and an ice blonde. Ginger immediately stepped up and started helping Coffee Queen with the bed, while Ice Blondie came over to the window, giving him a good look at her. She was gorgeous, and looked kind of nervous. She was also dressed like she'd been at Medievel Times somewhere, while Ginger looked like Pippi-freakin'-Longstocking.

He'd watched as Ingrid had instructed the two girls in turning on and off the lights - a head-scratcher of epic proportions; since when are table lamps mystery tech? - and gave them clothes to wear to bed. Then she'd left the girls in the room. They walked away from view for a minute, then when they walked in front of the window again - _Hot damn!_ \- they were both naked, or at least topless; he was too low to see everything. Ginger was closest to the window when they turned from each other to put on their nightshirts. Ginger was _tight!_

He'd kept watching the bedroom until they turned out the lights, then got back in his car. Okay, what had he seen? Coffee Queen had houseguests who weren't in the house while she'd been away and hadn't been with her when she'd started for home. She had to have picked them up from somewhere, but where? The nature preserve? When she'd made that detour, was it to pick up Ginger and Ice Blondie? Okay, fine, but what were Ginger and Ice Blondie doing in the freakin' woods in the middle of a blizzard in the first place? And why were they dressed like they were in Game of Thrones? And most important: Who were they to Ingrid?

He'd hunkered down in his car after that. He'd have to rethink this while making more observations.

* * *

He'd woken up in the front seat of his car disoriented, but only for a moment. He'd remembered the strange events of last night and that he'd decided to stay to wait and see if Coffee Queen stuck to her routine and went to church. As he got his bearings he noticed a snowplow clearing the street. He'd figured the noise was what woke him up. He'd checked the time. It wouldn't be long before Ingrid pulled out of the garage to go to church, if she was going.

The appointed time came and went, and then another hour passed, and he'd figured that Ingrid had decided to stay home with Ice Blondie and Ginger. If so, then he was wasting time here. He needed to get home, eat and get some real rest. As he started his car and pulled out, he'd wondered again who the young girls were to Ingrid? Were they the Coffee Queen's minions, or consorts? He supposed he should be ashamed for thinking they might have a sexual purpose in Ingrid's life, but he'd already seen she really didn't have much of a romantic life. Still, if they were friends with benefits why hadn't Ingrid gone to bed with them last night?

They couldn't be relatives, could they? Ingrid often talked about having a younger sister, yet no one had found any evidence of a "Gerda Arendelle" after years of searching. The running theory between him and his client was that she might have existed but that little sister Gerda was either living or had died under an assumed name. Okay, but could either Ice Blondie or Ginger be the mysterious Gerda? If so, where had she been hiding, and who was the other one?

He had to find out before he could do his job.

* * *

Monday came, and he resumed his stakeout of Ingrid by visiting her shop. He'd become something of a regular in the place over the past weeks, mainly so he could observe the Coffee Queen in her empire. He'd spend the morning, drinking coffee and doing paperwork on his laptop while waiting for Ingrid's shift to end. This day he'd paid particular attention to whatever conversation he could pick up between Ingrid and her staff. To his knowledge, she didn't mention Ice Blondie or Ginger to them at all.

He'd left a few minutes before Ingrid so he could follow her after work. She'd surprised him by not going straight home. Instead she'd gone shopping, picking up clothes that he'd assumed were for her houseguests. This time when he'd followed her home, he'd found a place to park directly across from the house so he could observe the front bedroom from inside the car. He'd seen the houseguests once briefly when they ran the shopping bags full of clothes up to the bedroom, then for much longer when Ingrid joined them and they played fashion show. He'd especially enjoyed seeing Ginger and Ice Blondie show off their underwear to each other.

Again, he'd waited until the bedroom was dark before deciding what to do. He drove off, playing the odds that he'd find out more with his usual visit to the cafe. His hunch paid off, as he'd been there the next day in time to hear Coffee Queen introduce the girls to her detective friend as her nieces.

Nieces? Okay, so were they the daughters of the mystery sister, or was one of them the sister and the niece thing a cover? He'd decided to take Ingrid at her word for the simplest of reasons: it meant more money for him if it was true. Time to contact the client. As he watched a video on his laptop, he'd used his phone to send a text:

 _Ging and IceB nieces sez CQ. Price goes 4 all 3._

The responding text had come back almost instantly:

 _Agreed. Pay on finish like b4._

He'd smiled at that. He liked it when they didn't haggle, and this one'd had a figurative hard-on for Ingrid for ages. He'd found out why soon after taking the contract. He'd thought it was stupid, but he'd resolved to just do the job and collect the cash. Okay, but now the job was three times as hard. He needed to find a new opportunity.

At one point that morning Coffee Queen had sent her nieces to get food for the staff. Could he have dealt with them then? No, better to get them all at once. He had more observing to do.

* * *

Ice Blondie and Ginger had come back with Coffee Queen for the next three days, serving as cheap labor. Rich Bitch had visited on the third day, and he could tell she'd frustrated Ice Blondie and Ginger as much as she did anyone else who wasn't Ingrid. (though she agreed Ginger should be called Ginger.) At one point that day he'd been a step behind Ginger heading to the bathrooms when he caught the same conversation she had: a couple of young punks drooling over Coffee Queen and Rich Bitch. He'd smiled at one admitting to Ingrid giving him wood. He'd likely need to take care of that himself, 'cause if Queen and Bitch _weren't_ utterly gay for each other he'd eat his favorite cowboy boots.

Something else about the conversation had bothered him: Ginger's reaction. She looked confused, as if she had no idea why she should find what the punks had said offensive.

Another item for the "What the hell?" list.

He'd had more items following them around on Saturday, when Ingrid showed them around the city. They'd started by watching the planes take off and land at O'Hare. The girls looked like they'd never seen airplanes before. Really? Then how the hell did they get to freaking Chicago from Nordicland? It's not like cruise ships came this far inland!

He'd laid off the observation on Sunday so he could make new preparations for a new opportunity to deal with all three women at once. He'd worried doing so might actually make him miss his chance, but he was already thinking about what he might do, and he decided to wait until circumstances made that possible.

The chance came sooner than he'd expected. He'd gone to the cafe Monday morning and found that Ingrid and her nieces hadn't come in. When he ordered his drink, he asked the Staff Blonde with a smile, "No Ingrid today?"

"Not this morning," she'd said. "She's coming in tonight because we'll be short staffed."

"Oh...is she bringing her nieces?"

The Blonde chuckled and said, "Yeah...it's like they're her favorite accessories lately."

"Seems like." He'd left a five in the tip box and took his coffee to go.

Opportunity had arrived.

* * *

He kept going over the plan over and over in his mind as he got ready. Ingrid's cafe closed at Nine, PM, and like most other establishments they started ushering people out around fifteen or twenty minutes before closing. Unlike those other places however, Ingrid had gotten into the habit of not locking the door until Nine sharp. That meant that there would be about ten or fifteen minutes tonight when the door would be open but the only people in the place would be staff. It would be great if it were only the three subjects, but he wouldn't know for sure until he got there.

He wanted to get there around 8:45 to scope out the place. If the conditions were right he'd go in and make it look like a robbery. He'd acquired the perfect weapon for it, a Mossberg 12-gauge super-short shotgun. It was small enough to hide in a normal coat but still had the dropping power of the normal-sized 12-gauge. It only held three rounds total - 2 in the slide and one in the chamber - but that was okay. He was bringing reloads.

He was in all black: jeans, t-neck, boots, leather gloves and a pea coat. A face mask worn as a beanie cap was a final touch. He had the super-shorty mounted on a sling which he had hanging off his shoulder so that the gun rested at his side, making it easy to bring up, prime and fire.

He reached the right block around thirteen minutes to Nine. He paused on the corner for a moment to shove his hands into his coat pockets and hunch over before walking at a normal pace past the cafe's entrance. He used his peripheral vision to scan the lit interior. Good news. The place was empty of customers, and the only staff were Ingrid and the girls.

Perfect.

He walked all the way to the next corner before stopping and turning around. He pulled the face mask down, and now the only thing that it left uncovered was his eyes. He unbuttoned his coat and flexed his fingers, then he got his hands on the super-shorty, gripping the handle and flipping down the stability grip. With both hands firmly on the weapon, he took a deep breath and marched back to the cafe. Three targets, three rounds. Take 'em down, boost the register drawer, get out.

He turned sharply at the cafe door and shouldered his way in, drawing all three women's attention. Ginger, god-love-her, put on a smile and went into the normal spiel. "Hi! I'm sorry, but the cafe is closed for the night. We'll be open again tomorrow morning at six, though, so feel free to come back then."

Obviously, she couldn't see him smile at her stupidity, but he knew it wouldn't matter in a second now that he had the super-shorty raised to her abdomen.

He was a heartbeat from pulling the trigger when Ingrid screamed something that made him freeze:

"Elsa! Save your sister!"

 _What?_ He looked at Ingrid, but she was looking at Ice Blondie, so he looked at her and saw her raising her hands toward him with a look of intense hatred in her eyes.

The next thing he knew he was in the middle of the street, having been blown there by the coldest hurricane force wind he'd ever felt. He shivered, and almost got hit by a car before he could recover enough to get back on the side walk. By the time he could get his focus back on the cafe the door was locked and the crime gates came crashing down.

He just stared. "What the hell?" just didn't cover it this time…

* * *

Ingrid, Anna and Elsa just stared at the front of the store. "Was that a gun?" Anna rasped. "A real gun?"

"It was," Ingrid said, sounding like she didn't believe it herself.

Elsa's hands were surrounded by clouds of frost. "What did he want?" She asked.

"Do you think he's still out there?" Anna said.

To answer both their questions, Ingrid said, "If he just wanted money, then Elsa blasting him out of here might make him go someplace else. If it's something worse…"

The explosive sound of the shotgun firing finished the answer for her as it blew a hole in the window gate while shattering the window. The Arendelles screamed, then Ingrid ushered them behind the counter, where they crouched down. The gun fired twice more before things quieted down.

"Do you think he's gone now?" Anna hoped.

"Elsa," Ingrid said, "use more wind to blow the tables and chairs against the storefront."

Elsa nodded and rose up just enough to peer over the counter and direct a blast of wind behind the tables and chairs in the middle of the cafe and making them slam into the storefront. Right after that the gun fired three more times.

"Now," Ingrid said, "Put up the biggest, thickest wall of ice you can manage against the front!"

Elsa nodded and rose fully, then she blasted the front of the store with jets of frost that built a wall of white polar ice in front of the door and window.

* * *

Outside, the gunman was reloading his shotgun when the light shining through the holes he'd blown through the crime gate went dark. He stared at that too, the darkness coming after what sounded like all the furniture in the place being thrown at the wall. This was nuts. What should have been a straightforward hit and run was turning into a Twilight Zone episode.

He finished loading the gun and fired three more shots into the gate, blowing more holes into it but not dispelling the darkness.

"F***!" The gunman said. He didn't know what was going on, but he needed to stop wasting ammo. He thought about the problem. He'd been in this place countless times and for the life of him couldn't recall if there was another way to get in. Trash bags were taken out the front and around to the alley dumpster, so there wasn't a back entrance. Then again, the crime gate wasn't an obstacle, so he could blast his way in if that was all that was there, but they'd barricaded the door and window somehow.

Slowly, carefully, he approached the wall and reached a finger into one of the slugholes. He couldn't even get his finger tip in. There was a wall just behind the gate. A hard, slippery wall.

 _Ice? They put up a wall of ice?_

* * *

Ingrid took out her phone and handed it to Anna. "Here! Call 911! Tell them what's happening and answer any questions they have!"

"Right!" Anna said. She dialed 911 from Ingrid's emergency contacts and waited till someone answered before saying, "Hello? We need help! A man with a gun is trying to break into my aunt's store!"

As Anna dealt with the 911 operator, Ingrid turned to Elsa. "All right, the police will be here soon, but that man is well-armed and he might hurt one of them when they try to arrest him. You have to help them!"

"Me? But I've done all I can already!"

"No, his face was covered with something!" Anna told the operator. "I didn't…" She was interrupted by the sound of three more shots, these muffled by the ice wall. "He keeps trying to shoot his way in! No, everything is locked and we have a barricade! I don't know how long it will hold…!"

"You have no idea how powerful you really are," Ingrid said to Elsa, "but I do. You are the _Snow Queen_ , Elsa, but that doesn't just mean you can make snow and ice. Winter in all its aspects is your domain. The wind, the frost, the clouds...they're all yours to command."

"But I can't hurt him if I can't see him!" Elsa said. "I'd have to go outside and risk taking down the wall…"

"The police are coming!" Anna told them. "The 911 lady said stay hidden and away from the front of the store!"

Ingrid nodded at her, then turned back to Elsa. "I'm trying to tell you that you don't have to go outside! In the winter your powers have no limits! You need to see him? Fine! Let the elements see him for you!" Ingrid took her hand and continued. "Close your eyes and command it to snow outside, then command the snow to show you what it reflects."

Elsa looked at her skeptically at first, but Ingrid had had these powers first, and used them so much more skillfully when they'd first encountered each other. She closed her eyes and did as she was told…

* * *

This was getting serious. If the women inside the store hadn't called the cops yet somebody had to with all the gunshots. He'd planned to be long gone before there was any police reaction. Now every second he stayed increased his chance of getting caught. He'd just wasted three more rounds trying to blow through the ice wall. He barely made a dent.

"Oh, for pity's sake…" He said. On top of everything else, it had just started snowing…

* * *

Elsa gasped and smiled. "I see him!" She said. "I _see him!_ He's still out front and he's pacing! He seems very angry…"

Suddenly the muffled sound of sirens came through the wall. "Yes, I can hear them!" Anna said to the operator with a grin.

"I can see them, too," Elsa told Ingrid. "Cars with flashing lights are coming from both ends of the street."

"Good!" Ingrid said. "Now make sure he doesn't resist them…"

* * *

He growled and cursed as he heard the approach of sirens and spotted the lights of cop cars coming from both directions. This contract was officially blown. Now all he could do was try to get out of dodge before the police set up a perimeter. He turned and got set to break into a sprint…

...and his face was on the pavement a second later. He'd slipped! On ice! Ice that wasn't there a second ago!

He got back on his feet a second later and tried to run in the other direction...and he went down again, slipping on ice that, again, hadn't been there a second ago.

He got to his feet again and realized that running was no longer an option as the cop cars reached the ends of the block and closed in on the store. Well, fine, if he couldn't run he'd fight. He loaded the super-shorty one more time and took aim at one of the cop cars.

He was hit with another blast of wind before he could pull trigger and slipped on ice again, and the combination slammed him onto his back hard, making him fire the chambered round uselessly into the air. By the time he recovered and sat up the cop cars were flanking the store and their occupants were climbing out, guns drawn. "Stay down!" One yelled. "Put the weapon on the ground and lay on your stomach!"

After that, all four officers started barking commands, and the gunman decided that getting caught and complying was the least bad choice he could make…

* * *

"Yes!" Anna cheered. She turned to the others and said, "They have him in custody!"

"I know," Elsa said. She opened her eyes at beamed at Ingrid and Anna. "I saw it all!"

Anna gave her a thumbs up, then turned back to the phone. "Thank you so much! Right, I understand." She hung up and said, "The police will want to come in in a minute."

"All right," Ingrid said. "Elsa, you should get rid of the ice wall, quick as you can."

"Right." She stood up to get rid of it, then paused. "Should I also make it stop snowing?"

Ingrid shrugged. "Whatever you want. _You're_ the Snow Queen."

Elsa grinned at that, then worked on getting rid of the ice wall. When that was done all three women cleared the furniture barricade manually.

They had just cleared the door when someone called in, "Miss Arendelle? Chicago Police! Anyone hurt in there?"

"We're fine!" Ingrid called back. "Just a second!" Then to the girls: "Follow my lead."

Ingrid raised the door gate and opened the door. There was a tall, male Chicago Police Officer standing just outside. "Everything's under control out here, ma'am. We have the man in custody. He won't bother you again."

Ingrid said nothing. She just grinned and caught the man in a close hug. Anna and Elsa looked at each other, then followed Ingrid's lead and made it a group hug.

 **TBC...**


End file.
